A $9 million project to repair extensive landslide damage on Suck Creek Road, triggered by heavy rain the weekend of the Easter 2020 tornado outbreak, is still ongoing after more than two years.
The work on two slide areas is 32% complete and is expected to be finished by Aug. 31, 2023, according to Tennessee Department of Transportation spokeswoman Rae-Anne Bradley. One slide site is near the bottom on the Chattanooga side of Suck Creek Mountain, and the other is about a mile up the slope on the winding two-lane road.
“On the lower end of the project, we’re replacing a damaged box culvert with a single span bridge and shoring up the slope,” Bradley said Tuesday in an emailed response to questions about the work at the two sites. “On the upper end of the project, we’re installing a soil nail wall and bank stabilization system.”
Soil nails are typically hollow tubes driven horizontally into the ground and grouted into place below the road bed to support it and prevent it from shifting. So far, the project contractor, Jackson, Tennessee-based Dement Construction Co., has experienced no delays, Bradley said.