Aerial Photos of Hwy. 64 Rockslide, 2 Months to Clear

Work continues on last week's rockslide on Highway 64 in Polk County. Dennis Hutcheson provides these unique aerial images (to the right) of the scene of the slide.

Tennessee Dept. of Transportartion officials originally estimated at least three weeks for clean-up, but after a closer look at the slide area the removal process will likely take at least eight weeks.

"We know the closure of this roadway is a major inconvenience to the many motorists who travel U.S. 64 between Cleveland and Ducktown each day," said TDOT Commissioner Gerald Nicely. "We appreciate your patience while the work is completed. TDOT will work very closely with the contractor and the community to get this roadway back open as soon as possible."

TDOT has awarded a $2.1 million emergency repair contract to Sevierville, Tennessee-based Charles Blalock and Sons, Inc.

Before any material can be removed from the site crews with Charles Blalock & Sons, Inc. will first work to stabilize the slope. Workers will immediately begin scaling and trimming the rock along the face of the mountain. Crews will remove unstable material from the top of the mountainside and will drive large 40' long rock anchors to help secure other material along the slope. Once the rock along the face of the mountainside has been stabilized, crews will begin removing the large boulders and other slide material located at the bottom of the mountain. After all slide material has been removed, the contractor will repair the damaged roadbed on U.S. 64 and TDOT crews will repave the roadway and reopen it to traffic.

"We estimate that some 30,000 cubic yards of rock and other debris will need to be removed from the site, which is approximately 3,000 dump truckloads of material," said TDOT Chief Engineer Paul Degges. "This is dangerous work that requires a highly skilled contractor. Our geotechnical engineers will be working closely with Blalock throughout the project to ensure the slide removal is completed safely and as quickly as possible."

TDOT has created a special web page for the U.S. 64 rockslide. The site currently includes news releases and photos. In the coming days TDOT will be adding daily progress updates, updated photos, periodical video updates and a live time-lapse camera of work at the site. Due to the dangerous and unpredictable nature of the work, once the removal process is underway no one will be allowed on the work site without a TDOT escort.

Click HERE for a map of the detour around the rockslide. (PDF File)