Staff Photo by Patrick Smith
Gerald Nicely, commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Transportation, discusses how the agency will handle the removal of the debris from a rockslide that took place last week on U.S. 64 in the Ocoee Gorge. The commissioner said the clean up could take eight weeks or longer.

U.S. Highway 64 will remain closed for at least two months while workers remove debris that has been blocking the road since a rock slide last Tuesday.

“This is subject to change. This is clearly a very unstable situation,” TDOT Commissioner Gerald Nicely said.

It will cost $2 million to clear the road, which Mr. Nicely said is a “conservative” estimate.

Work will being immediately. Workers will start by removing the rocks on top with a crane, and then they will remove the rock on the road.

A series of rock slides crashed across the highway through the Ocoee Gorge Tuesday. Highway officials have said more than 15 inches of rain since Sept. 1 and several small earthquakes earlier this month near Cleveland probably contributed to the Ocoee rock slide.

On Thursday morning, a small rock slide toppled onto the W Road on the side of Signal Mountain, closing the road for several hours.

Another large slide late last month closed Interstate 40 near Asheville, N.C.