NCDOT reports progress on WNC roadways damaged by Helene

Roads and bridges that were damaged by Hurricane Helene in late September have seen significant progress as work transitions from emergency to temporary to permanent repairs.

According to the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) there were 1,426 roads that were closed. As of Jan. 21, 1,251 roads (87.7%) have been reopened. Also, 9307 damage sites, or portions of a roadway, including 83 bridges and 867 culverts, were identified due to the most destructive storm in the state’s history. It is also estimated that approximately 145 bridges will likely require replacement.

Following emergency responses initially after the storm, the next phase focused on installing short-term solutions such as temporary bridges, pipe-filled fords, and gravel roads, sometimes topped with a thin layer of asphalt before winter set in. This work reconnected communities with towns and towns with cities.

“We reconnected all of our communities to state roads by Thanksgiving,” NCDOT Division 13 Engineer Tim Anderson said in an NCDOT press release. “Also, we installed 26 temporary bridges in the first 90 days in Division 13.”  

Buncombe, Burke, Madison, McDowell, Mitchell, Rutherford, and Yancey counties make up Division 13.

Anderson told Carolina Journal in an emailed statement that repairs have been completed at an “astounding” rate.

“I am very impressed with the production of NCDOT and consultant engineers, contract crews, Kentucky Transportation Cabinet crews, the Florida DOT bridge team, and our central NCDOT teams,” he said. “Immediately after the storm, on Sept. 28, 29, and 30, we only had a general idea of the damage and no idea how long emergency or temporary repairs would take. Looking back now, I’m rather impressed with the response and continued momentum we carried through to winter.”

Anderson said they have done a lot of good work, but there is a lot more to do.

“Through the winter, we will continue to make repairs as weather allows while we also focus on indoor tasks — developing contracts, drawing plans, and designing roadways. In the spring, our neighbors will see a lot of permanent construction on our infrastructure.”

Winter weather hasn’t had much of an impact on areas that were completed and paved early in recovery operations. In other areas where temporary repairs have been made, however, there have been some issues, but NCDOT told CJ they are quickly resolving them.

“We have seen some deterioration of the repairs that we monitor and address immediately after rain and snow events,” said Michael Poe, Engineer for NCDOT Division 11, which encompasses Alleghany, Ashe, Avery, Caldwell, Surry, Watauga, Wilkes and Yadkin counties.

In an emailed statement, he told CJ that some of the emergency repairs were not designed for heavy rainfall events, and they anticipated heavy rains would cause some minor damage at a few of the locations until permanent repairs were completed. 

“Recently, a rainstorm that showered the northern mountains after Christmas elevated the Toe River, the New River, and a few others,” Poe said. “That high water washed out some approaches to a temporary bridge — crews were onsite waiting for water to recede before starting repairs that were complete within one day — and washed debris downstream into and onto bridges. All repairs were completed quickly.”

He said being in the heart of winter will have an impact on the amount of progress they are able to make on repairs right now, as the crews’ first priority is taking care of the roadways during winter storms. Once spring arrives, Poe said road repairs will ramp up.  

That includes contracts already in the works to restore highways in the obliterated basins, including I-40 beside the Pigeon River, US 64/74A beside the Rocky Broad through Bat Cave and Chimney Rock, and the Cane and Nolichucky rivers in Yancey County, which decimated US 19W and US 197.

In the Pigeon River Gorge, contract crews continue installing soil-nail walls to stabilize the westbound lanes for future reconstruction. Crews are also working on an operation to provide one lane of traffic in each direction to reestablish movement through the gorge.

NCDOT and its contractors have constructed a temporary road between Bat Cave and Chimney Rock that serves local residents, provides emergency access, and will be utilized as contractors rebuild new road from bedrock. 

In Yancey County, gravel roads have been established, creating connections to every community, and Division 13 engineers are developing contracts for each highway requiring rebuilding.

The post NCDOT reports progress on WNC roadways damaged by Helene first appeared on Carolina Journal.