wistv.com - Columbia, South Carolina |Interstate shut down by rockslide expected to reopen Monday

Interstate shut down by rockslide expected to reopen Monday

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By Nick Needham - email
This is an image of the rockslide that hit NC side of the border last year. (Source: NC DOT) This is an image of the rockslide that hit NC side of the border last year. (Source: NC DOT)

CHARLOTTE, NC (WBTV) - Another rockslide has affected traffic on Interstate 40, this time hitting on the Tennessee side of the border.

The incident happened in eastern Tennessee near the North Carolina border has shutdown westbound Interstate 40.

The Tennessee Department of Transportation has awarded an emergency contract to remove debris and unstable rock from Interstate 40 West near the North Carolina border. Currently, the westbound lanes of the interstate are closed at Exit 20 in North Carolina due to a rockslide in Tennessee.

Phillips and Jordan, Inc. of Knoxville, Tenn. was awarded the $59,350 contract. The contractor will begin work at the rockslide site Thursday afternoon. Weather permitting, TDOT anticipates reopening the interstate by Monday, February 6.

The N.C. Department of Transportation reminds motorists that Western North Carolina destinations such as Asheville, Cherokee, Waynesville, Maggie Valley and North Carolina sections of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park are still accessible via I-40 West without taking a detour. Only interstate travel into Tennessee is affected by the closure of I-40 West near the state line.

The primary detour route for all vehicles is I-240 West in Asheville to I-26 West to I-81 South in Tennessee back to I-40. In addition to the primary signed detour route for all vehicles, non-commercial vehicles can also bypass the I-40 West closure by following U.S. 74 West (via Exit 27) or U.S. 19 South (via Exit 20/U.S. 276 South) to U.S. 441 North, which travels through the Great Smoky Mountains National Park into Tennessee and connects back with I-40. 

East bound traffic is unaffected by the rockslide.

In Oct. 2009, a rockslide shut down I-40 in North Carolina. Another slide in Jan. 2010 added to the woes.

The 2010 rockslide occurred at mile marker 6.5 about four miles east of the Oct. 25 rockslide site. It brought down an estimated 500 cubic yards of rock – the equivalent of about 50 dump truck loads – onto the highway.

The highway was reopened for the first time in late April of 2010.

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