FIND INFORMATION ON THE WINTER, 2016 I-75 ROCK SLIDE CLOSURE HERE.
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP/WMOT) — The Tennessee Department of Transportation plans to open a single southbound lane of Interstate 75 at the site of that massive rock slide in Campbell County.
TDOT intends to open one of the two southbound lanes today at the 143 mile marker, not far from the Kentucky border.
The slide occurred on March 8. Then, on May 7, a second slide occurred, further disrupting traffic.
TDOT’s Mark Nagi says the project will take months, and with good reason.
“Rebuilding this - the amount of rock that it’s going to take to build this buttress up out of there – you’re talking about approximately 17,000 truck loads. People here at the department who’ve worked here 20, 30 years…they said it’s one of the biggest that they’ve ever seen.”
Nagi says Tennessee will not be footing the bill for the repairs. Federal dollars are being used to rebuild the collapsed roadway.
More than 28,000 vehicles travel through Tennessee each day on the affected section of I-75.