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I-40 Shut Down!

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PAUL161

PAUL161

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Went to Oklahoma the other day and took my normal route, up I-26 from Columbia, SC to I-40 and then West. Did I get a surprise when I heard of the land slide that shut I-40 down in N.C. Following the detour signs, they took me 147 miles out of the way, eventually ending up at Knoxville. They didn't post the detour distance, or I would have turned around, went back to Columbia and took I-20 West and 78 West to Memphis. Would have been faster. Oh well, such is life. They say it could take a long time to clean up the mess and re-open I-40. They say some of the rocks are so big, they need to blast to break them up to move. What a mess, especially for the people who use that route to go to work. No short cuts in that area!
 
Yep, and gonna play heck with Thanksgiving travel this year!

Mickey
 
Don't know what's happening to Tennessee, but more rock slides are closing other roads. They guess small earth quakes and a lot of rain is the culprit, Plus, they say it could take 4 months to clean up I-40.

https://www.knoxnews.com/news/2009/nov/13/rock-slide-closes-road-at-signal-mountain/
Rock slide closes road at Signal Mountain » Knoxville News Sentinel

I-40 photos. More rocks came down after these photos were taken.

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Art, it isn't the clean up of the rocks that have fallen, it's cleaning the end of the mountain so no loose rocks can fall later. Plus they'll more than likely cover the damaged area with netting, which means drilling in secure rocks for the holding pins. Not a short term job, sorry to say.
 
Wasn't I-40 closed a few years ago for the same thing in about the same area? & somebody told me US 64 in that general area was also closed for landslide.
 
That's only 17 miles from the house, here. Last time it was closed was when Katrina's rain fall flooded everything here in the mountians and the Pigeon River scoured the bank out below east bound I-40's shoulder. A lane dropped over the bank into the river...
Logistically, you have to truck out the debris or spoil from the site and then out of the gorge. It's a mess. Would suggest traveling through Cherokee to Gatlinburg, then north thru Sevierville to I-40.
Don't let that stop you from coming to the mountains though...
 
Y'all out there in the east don't know what real rockfall is. :wink:

This one fell a few miles from my house a while back.

topanga_rock.jpg
 
:lol: Wow! Thankfully with the flatlands of Fl. we don't have those kind of road problems!!
 
Just sink holes, eh?
 
Just sink holes, eh?
 
Hehe, yep! Sinkholes and hurricanes (at least we get ample warnings with the latter!).
 
Not only is I-40 blocked by a landslide but US 64 below it is also blocked by one....took me an hour and a half last night on the detour....about 10 miles of road is blocked but you have to go almost 70 miles in the mountains to go around it...wish I'd been in a sportscar rather than my truck....that detour is one curvy road!

Today coming back the detour heavy with motorcycles...apparently it's known for it's curves (not as good as the Tail of the Dragon though)....passed one guy on the ground next to his bike with blood running everywhere.
 
Tha's the one that caused me an hour & a half detour......it also closed the Ocoee River for rafting for the remainder of the season (about 2 more weeks).
 
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