I-40 at the TN/NC border will once again close for several weeks following series of rockslides

Interstate 40 at the Tennessee/North Carolina border will be closed for the next several weeks following a series of rockslides earlier this week. 

The rockslides happened on June 18th during an intense downpour. The largest of the four rockslides on I-40 near exit 451 happened around mile marker 450. 

According to the Knoxville News Sentinel, the intense rain caused the rockslides, which sent rocks and dirt pouring onto the roadway. The first step in resolving the damage involved diverting water off of the roadway and clearing the mud. TDOT was able to begin assessing the damage just hours after the incident, and additional assessments will be made after the debris is cleared off of the interstate. No one was injured in the incident.  

“We’re still in trauma. … (Our) ears are still ringing from eight months ago,” Cocke County Mayor Rob Mathis said. “When that first call went out, immediately it was like, ‘Oh no, not again.’ But then, within a half a second later of that it was, ‘OK, let’s do this.’ And that’s what we do. Whatever the challenge is, we’re going to face it together, head on. And we’re going to overcome it.”

The interstate is expected to reopen in about two weeks, but the most severe damage at Exit 451 could take several weeks longer to clear and repair. The rockslide cleanup is expected to cost around half a million dollars. 

TDOT recommends the same alternate routes used during the Hurricane Helene cleanup – Interstate 81 to Interstate 26.