Massive rock slide closes I40 at TN/NC state line

No kidding.........

deja vu'

 

Its not all that massive...but yes, some rocks fell.

I would call it a rock slide...not quite big enough to be called massive, but a bit too much to be called small too.

 

yup hubby said "same place it happened last time"...

 

and they are going to take MONTHS to clean it up...according to them

 

I've been following the NC I-40 rock slide since it happened. A good friend of mine is THE NCDOT CDL-A driver and has worked 7 days a week since the slide until 1/22/10. Yup - he had to work Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day, New Years Day and every day in between. We used to drive for the same company and have stayed in touch every week for the last 2 years. I've been on the short list for hire to be the 2nd CDL-A driver for NC - whenever federal money's gets to NC (more on that later).

What made the I-40 slide significant is that the fracture of the rock up on the mountain made large slabs of rock loose that didn't fall down in the initial slide. Half of the mountain was unstable after the initial slide. The contractors that have been working on the slide had to first repel down the mountain to get to the fracture site. This took the first week to survey the site. Then the blasting started. Currently, they are removing the loose rock and cementing bolts deep into the face to stabilize the mountain. All of that is on the NCDOT website.

The current problem and one that might delay the reopening of I-40 is that the promised funds from the federal government for "shovel ready projects" that Obama was so vocal about has shut down and the governor of NC is hot as hell and has had to lay off teachers and other state workers to balance the state budget. Additonally, the NCDOT is having trouble paying the contractors that are stabilizing the mountain. Looks as if I26 will be used for a while longer.

 

Yep....not trying to turn this into yet another political thread...BUT...

ANOTHER of Obama's promises that he seems to have reneged on.

For those who travel this route consistently, I'm so sorry that this takes ya'll so much further out of route. I'm just glad we don't do so very often.

Judi Kay

 

Yup - Obama's promise prior to taking office and since has over extended the federal government that will take years if not decades to recover (if ever even). Not to defend him totally ('cause I'm certainly not a fan of his), candidates at every level fool the public by doing a shell game prior and after election. The want to make as many people happy, and the reality is the more you do it, the fewer people are happy. I wished politicians were just honest.

As to the closure and inconvience, it's bad for truckers, bad for frieght costs and causes the consumer price to go up in NC. It is less attractive for vacationers to go from say Nashville to Asheville too since many don't want to be bothered with the detour. You have to remember that the Smokey Mtns is a popular vacation spot and alot of people own cabins in the area. It's like a boulder fell on the economy for the area.

 

The NCDOT says it will most likely be late March before they get that section of I40 reopened.

 

And now they had another slide 3 miles from the original slide. Recent rains to blame.

What NCDOT puts on their website doesn't touch on the budget issues going on. Speaking to those involved with NC DOT shows how serious the funding issues have become. The slide area might be opened in March, but might be the last week instead of the 1st. Might not sound like much, but 3 weeks is a long time for companies that consistantly haul frieght through there.