I-40 rockslide

[barcncpt44]

HARMON DEN, N.C. - It could take up to three months to completely clear debris on Interstate 40 after a rock slide early Sunday morning closed the roadway in both directions at mile marker 3 in Haywood County, according to officials with the North Carolina Department of Transportation.

The slide happened around 2 a.m. near the Tennessee border. Three vehicles ran into the rocks in accidents that happened within minutes of the slide, N.C. Highway Patrol Sgt. Brian Tucker said. One woman sustained injuries that weren't life threatening, said Trooper Gene Williamson, traffic safety information officer with the Highway Patrol.



I have relatives that live around there and i have been on that road and it is very narrow and dangerous with numerous accidents and rock slides.  Maybe this will encourage north carolina and tennessee DOT'S to do something about this road but i do not see this coming.  Very suprised no major injuries since this happened at 2am with only the car headlights to see this coming.  The detour around this is I-26 to I-81 to I-40.  click on the link to see aerial shots of the slide.

http://www2.wspa.com/spa/news/local/article/rockslide_forces_permanent_closure_of_i-40_in_haywood_county/28664/

[mightyace]

I have relatives that live around there and i have been on that road and it is very narrow and dangerous with numerous accidents and rock slides.  Maybe this will encourage north carolina and tennessee DOT'S to do something about this road but i do not see this coming.

I drove this two months ago and also remember how narrow it was.

I doubt anything will be done other than clearing the slide either as anything major would probably cost hundreds of millions into the billions of dollars as massive rock cut and/or tunnels much bigger than what currently exists would be required.

[Chris]

I've read this happens often on this section.

[xcellntbuy]

On my first trip to the South in April and May 1997, there was a rock slide on Interstate 40 at mile marker 1 in North Carolina and I remember the news reports about the frequency of these slides in the past.  Apparently, these parts of the Appalachian Mountains are geologically unstable.  It took quite some time to clean-up the slide and only two lanes of Interstate 40 were open for traffic.

[CanesFan27]

Wow, just missed that by about two weeks.  Rockslides, landslides, highway collapses..you name it have plagued this stretch of I-40 for years.  As for doing something about it, it's really next to impossible given the terrain and the cost of such project.  Minor safety improvements is about it.

[golden eagle]

Wait until someone is killed. Then they'll do something about it.

[hm insulators]

Maybe a school bus full of children.

[CanesFan27]

Or the occasional vehicle or truck that drives off the road (not to be found months later).  It's happened a number of times.

[CanesFan27]

Editorial in the Greensboro News Record on the I-40 rockslide...with some historical perspective.

http://www.news-record.com/content/2009/10/28/article/editorial_highways_choke_point

[CanesFan27]

The Asheville Citizen-Times has started a feature page on the rock slide.  It will be the best source on the clean-up and reconstruction of I-40.  The site also has photos and archived stories from the July 1997 slide (in the same general area) and some great archive photos of I-40 construction in the area from the 1960s.

http://www.citizen-times.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=999991026016&template=theme&theme=ROCKSLIDE

[SSF]

The NHTSA only valued a human life in 2003 at ~3.3 million dollars, it would take many deaths to consider an alternative.

[CanesFan27]

The Asheville Citizen-Times continues to do a great job covering all the angles of the Interstate 40 Haywood County rock slide.

An article in Sunday's edition provides a strong historical perspective on how the Pigeon River routing of Interstate 40 came about. And perhaps most strikingly, in an article that ran just prior to the highway's opening in the fall of 1968, how engineers from both Tennessee and North Carolina warned "...that slides would probably be a major problem along the route for many years."

http://www.citizen-times.com/article/20091101/NEWS01/911010355&theme=ROCKSLIDE

Blog Summary:
http://surewhynotnow.blogspot.com/2009/11/i-40-rockslide-uncovers-old-debates-on.html

[CanesFan27]

Now add emergency repairs to I-81 at Exit 23 to the mess.  I-81 will see 12 hour closures over the next two weekends to repair cracked support beams carrying US 11E over the highway.

http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2009/nov/10/tdot-announces-upcoming-detour-i-81/

[Alex]

It is not the only rockslide recently... 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CUXhjPkGBtU

[WillWeaverRVA]

I would probably require a change of pants if that happened right in front of me...

[mightyace]

Man talk about fortunate timing!  Both on catching on tape and, even more so, after the equipment was out of the way! 

I'm sure that the excess rain we've had in this part of the world this year has been a contributing factor in these rock slides.

[Hellfighter]

Damn! Good thing no one got hurt!

[simguy228]

I've went invesigating over there yesterday. It only took me 3 hours to get there because I live in Northeast, TN

[CanesFan27]

If the detour around I-40 wasn't frustrating enough for some motorists, along the detour route the Interstate 81 repairs and temporary closure at Exit 23 in Eastern Tennessee took about two and a half hours longer than expected today. The delay caused lengthy backups on northbound I-81 from about 9:30 am to 12:30 pm.  There will be a similar closure on the southbound lanes next weekend

Story:
http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2009/nov/15/tdot-overnight-bridge-i-81-work-causes-very-long-b/

[Scott5114]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ibNQWZB7dEA

Here is a video of the section of freeway in question from Freewayjim. 3:50 starts the portion with the rock cuts. I'm guessing the rockslide occurred somewhere around the 5 minute mark.

I traveled this road in 2007; it is very scenic, though winding and there are rather impressive mountains on both sides of the road.

[Chris]

Google Maps:

[agentsteel53]

I'm not sure if I understand what is going on there.  I-40 is closed so Google Maps shows it as not existing???

[Chris]

I-40 is closed so Google Maps shows it as not existing???

That's right. I found out they do that with high mountain passes in Switzerland during the winter too (when the passes are closed for the season).

[vdeane]

It's still there, they just downgraded it to a local road, so it doesn't show up when zoomed out.

EDIT: And why is there an at-grade intersection on that portion?
http://maps.google.com/maps?ie=UTF8&hl=en&hq=&hnear=Rochester,+Monroe,+New+York&ll=35.679836,-83.029143&spn=0.005342,0.011319&t=h&z=17

[mightyace]

EDIT: And why is there an at-grade intersection on that portion?
http://maps.google.com/maps?ie=UTF8&hl=en&hq=&hnear=Rochester,+Monroe,+New+York&ll=35.679836,-83.029143&spn=0.005342,0.011319&t=h&z=17

I think those are fire roads for the National Forest.  I remember wondering the same thing when I drove by them in August.