Rockslide in NC near Tennessee shuts Interstate 40 - Page 3 - Truckers' Trucking Forum

rubbergearsnextyear · **^ Top** #21 3 Weeks Ago

Quote:

Originally Posted by GAPrincess

Gee you'd think they would have built some sort of retaining wall after the first rock slide.

Wall? Did you see the size of some of the boulders blocking the westbound side (I think it's the wb side anyways from the pics)? It would take a hell of a wall to stop that momentum lol.

Biscuit75 · **^ Top** #22 3 Weeks Ago

Plus, it's not the same spot as the last slide. It's a miles and a half away.

Dna Mach · **^ Top** #23 3 Weeks Ago

Quote:

Originally Posted by rubbergearsnextyear

Wall? Did you see the size of some of the boulders blocking the westbound side (I think it's the wb side anyways from the pics)? It would take a hell of a wall to stop that momentum lol.

Yea I don't think you can build a retaining wall to hold back a mountain. If you look real closely you can see where they lay chain link fence over the side of a hill but that's probably to keep smaller boulders that are going to fall anyways from using momentum to find their way onto the roadway. When the whole mountain goes, stand back.

[LINK POSTED BY MEMBER] Only Members Can View This Truck Forum Link.

Quote:

One of the most dangerous portions of I-40 throughout its entirety is the section that travels through the Pigeon River Gorge in [LINK POSTED BY MEMBER] Only Members Can View This Truck Forum Link. . Known locally as simply "the gorge", this part of I-40 cuts a path west from [LINK POSTED BY MEMBER] Only Members Can View This Truck Forum Link. to the [LINK POSTED BY MEMBER] Only Members Can View This Truck Forum Link. state line. This section of the interstate is fairly curvy and tends to become a bit narrow in some places when compared to other portions of the highway. Because much of the road was cut through mountainside, concrete retaining walls have been built on both sides of the road and in the median, cutting down on the width of the breakdown lanes. Coupled with speeding vehicles, the extremely thick [LINK POSTED BY MEMBER] Only Members Can View This Truck Forum Link. that tends to plague the area, and little room to maneuver in case of accident, this area has become notorious for its severe and many times fatal accidents. It is reported that a person is 20 times as likely to die on I-40 in Haywood County than they would be to win the Powerball [LINK POSTED BY MEMBER] Only Members Can View This Truck Forum Link. , which equals to be twice the average of any other Interstate Highway in North Carolina.[LINK POSTED BY MEMBER] Only Members Can View This Truck Forum Link.
Even some minor accidents have been known to tie up traffic in this area, because there is little room to move accidents off or to the side of the road with the terrain. Speeding semi trucks have been a problem in the gorge and have subsequently led to many accidents. In 2002 and 2003, two state troopers were killed in two separate accidents by speeding trucks that drifted off the road and hit their [LINK POSTED BY MEMBER] Only Members Can View This Truck Forum Link. conducting a [LINK POSTED BY MEMBER] Only Members Can View This Truck Forum Link. . This led the [LINK POSTED BY MEMBER] Only Members Can View This Truck Forum Link. to crack down on speeding tractor trailers and speeders in general through the area.
This portion of the highway is, also, notorious for [LINK POSTED BY MEMBER] Only Members Can View This Truck Forum Link. and rocks falling onto the highway. The main cause is an engineering flaw, in that sections of the highway have been built on the north side of the Pigeon River, where the rock strata foliate towards the highway. In July [LINK POSTED BY MEMBER] Only Members Can View This Truck Forum Link. a rockslide near the Tennessee state line closed the road for nearly six months.[LINK POSTED BY MEMBER] Only Members Can View This Truck Forum Link. In 1985, a severe rockslide buried the westbound entrance to one of two tunnels that carry the highway through the gorge. Repair of the slide area and the tunnel required shifting westbound traffic to the eastbound tunnel, while eastbound traffic was diverted onto a temporary viaduct around the tunnels. In October of 2009, another rock slide occured about 3 miles from the Tennessee border. The rock slide blocked both lanes of traffic and was estimated to be 100 feet long and up to 50 feet high. I-40 in this area is closed for the time being and early reports say it will take months to clean up the highw

rubbergearsnextyear · **^ Top** #24 3 Weeks Ago

I hate driving through the gorge.

allenstowing · **^ Top** #25 3 Weeks Ago

It will take 2 hours longer to take the detour. The road will be closed for at least 8 weeks.

SLCTrucker · **^ Top** #26 3 Weeks Ago

Quote:

Originally Posted by allenstowing

It will take 2 hours longer to take the detour. The road will be closed for at least 8 weeks.

Why so much longer? does that depend where ur coming from?
I worked out that is only 62 miles longer from my normal route.

stranger · **^ Top** #27 3 Weeks Ago

Quote:

Originally Posted by SLCTrucker

Why so much longer? does that depend where ur coming from?
I worked out that is only 62 miles longer from my normal route.

One reason is that you have to take I-240, which is a parking lot several times a day, since it goes through Asheville. Then between Asheville and Johnson City are several mountains that are very steep. Next, you not only have the original traffic that always uses the detour route, now you have all the I-40 traffic added.

A pain, but much better that before the four lane was completed between Asheville and Johnson City, and also much better that when you had to use US 25.

soon2betrucking · **^ Top** #28 3 Weeks Ago

i get paid by the mile, ill take the 166 mile detour!!

poorrednek · **^ Top** #29 3 Weeks Ago

Quote:

Originally Posted by stranger

One reason is that you have to take I-240, which is a parking lot several times a day, since it goes through Asheville. Then between Asheville and Johnson City are several mountains that are very steep. Next, you not only have the original traffic that always uses the detour route, now you have all the I-40 traffic added.

A pain, but much better that before the four lane was completed between Asheville and Johnson City, and also much better that when you had to use US 25.

VERY STEEP MOUNTAINS?????? Where at? You aint left nc much have ya those are meerly hills

stranger · **^ Top** #30 3 Weeks Ago

Quote:

Originally Posted by poorrednek

VERY STEEP MOUNTAINS?????? Where at? You aint left nc much have ya those are meerly hills

I live close to there, and yes, the detour has a couple of steep mountains. Why else would a 60 mile detour take two hours.

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