KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - The Tennessee Department of Transportation says it will let an emergency contractor clear a rock slide from a section of U.S. 129 known as the Dragon.
TDOT qualified Pacific Blasting Demolition Ltd. and Phillips & Jordan Inc. to bid on the project because both offer specialized services needed to stabilize the mountainside where the slide occurred March 14.
The contract will be let Monday to one of the companies and work is to begin no later than April 5 on a section of highway that is on the southeastern boundary of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
The road is closed from near Chilhowee Lake to the North Carolina line.
The contract will call for completion of the project by July 31.