HARTFORD, Tenn. – Intense rainfall, subsequent flooding, and a rock slide have once again led to the closure of a section of Interstate 40, which runs through the narrow passage of the Great Smoky Mountains.
The incident occurred on Wednesday afternoon near mile marker 450 in Tennessee, just west of the border with North Carolina, according to a social media update from the Tennessee Department of Transportation.
Work crews remained on the scene Thursday, tasked with clearing the highway of water and debris, although no estimated time for reopening the road has been provided by the DOT.
The flooded section is part of 12 miles (19 kilometers) of I-40 in North Carolina and Tennessee that was washed away or heavily damaged by flooding that roared through the Pigeon River gorge during Hurricane Helene in late September.
Crews repaired and shored up enough of the old highway to open one narrow lane in each direction in March.
The lanes are separated by a curb several inches high that had to be removed to let vehicles stuck by the flooding and rockslide to turn around and go the other way.
About 2.5 to 3.5 inches (63 mm to 89 mm) of rain fell in the area over about three hours, according to the National Weather Service.
The permanent fix to stabilize what’s left of the road will involve driving long steel rods into bedrock below the road, filling them with grout and spraying concrete on the cliff face to hold them in place. It will take years.
I-40 runs from Wilmington. North Carolina to Barstow, California, and any detour around the Great Smoky Mountain section is dozens of miles. Trucks have gotten stuck on twisty narrow mountain roads and are banned on another major highway through the area U.S. 441 through Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
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