COLUMBUS — The N.C. Department of Transportation is expected
re-open U.S. 176 in Polk County on Saturday morning, one week after torrential
rains caused several landslides that covered the highway and adjacent
property.
The final item to accomplish is to re-establish guardrail or safety
precautions at two locations.
Crews from across western North Carolina have been working 24 hours
per day and will continue working through the weekend to complete secondary
tasks. At least one crew will remain on standby at all hours through the
weekend.
Several stretches of the road have been repaved and fill-slopes are
repaired. Guardrail has been re-installed in several locations. Ditches have
been dug out again with track-hoes and shovels. Drainage pipes have been cleared
with rakes and high-powered pressure washers. Nearly 20,000 tons of debris —
mud, trees, and vegetation — has been removed from the road and ditches.
“Our crews, with help from our contractors, did an incredible job
opening up the road so folks can get to their homes and everybody can drive
through,” Division 14 Construction Engineer Ted Adams said. “We still have some
items to finish off before all of the work is complete.”
GLF Construction and Vecellio & Grogan — which is building the
new Interstate 26/U.S. 74 interchange — were hired immediately after the slides.
Carolina Cat, the Green River Quarry and Polk County Landfill all played
critical roles and worked side-by-side with NCDOT teams from Polk, Cherokee,
Haywood, Henderson and Transylvania counties.
NCDOT employees will also be on alert for clogged drains and
overflowing ditches that are possible with expected rain over the next three
days.
“We’ll be opening up pipes and doing anything else that's needed,”
Adams said. “There could be more drainage issues.”
Contact: David Uchiyama
duchiyama@timesfreepress.com
(828) 251-6171