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Staff Photo by Dan Henry Steve Jones, Polk County maintenance supervisor, stands near mile marker 17 on U.S. Highway 64 where a rock slide completely covered the road Tuesday afternoon.
U.S. 64 connecting Chattanooga and Cleveland to Copperhill, Tenn.; McCaysville, Ga., and North Carolina still is expected to be open by March 31 after being closed by a major rock slide on Nov. 10.
Work has not begun yet on a second, smaller slide that occurred on Jan. 19, though it is expected to be cleared before the larger one, according to Tennessee Department of Transportation spokeswoman Jennifer Flynn. The contracted cost to clear the largest slide is $2.1 million. The contracted cost to clear the smaller slide, which occurred 7 miles from the first slide, is $759,000.
On Monday, crews drilled the side of the slope above the major slide in preparation for a pre-split blast to bring down the remaining outcrop of unstable rock hanging above the road.
By the numbers
* 49 days until all work is done
* 12,000 tons of rock removed
* 600 dump truck loads removed
* $700,000 spent on contractors through Jan. 31
* 10,000-plus manhours expended by clearing contractors and state engineers
* 13,104 manhours expended by state road workers manning road checkpoints and making improvements to U.S. 64 while the highway is closed
* 1,165 manhours for state and consulting geologists at a cost through January of $101,295
Compiled by Pam Sohn
Video: Watch TDOT workers blasting and removing rock overhangs
Pam Sohn has been reporting or editing Chattanooga news for 25 years. A Walden’s Ridge native, she began her journalism career with a 10-year stint at the Anniston (Ala.) Star. She came to the Chattanooga Times Free Press in 1999 after working at the Chattanooga Times for 14 years. She has been a city editor, Sunday editor, wire editor, projects team leader and assistant lifestyle editor. As a reporter, she also has covered the police, ...
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