‘Timeline is still a question mark’: TDOT continues assessment on East Tennessee highways and roads

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — The Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT) has started assessing and working toward repairing roads, bridges, and highways impacted by Hurricane Helene , including Interstate 40.

The majority of damage is located in East Tennessee and western North Carolina.

Cocke, Washington, Greene, Unicoi, Carter, and Johnson counties are all reporting damages to their highways, roads, or bridges.

TDOT told News 2 that they expect to find more damage as the water levels recede.

According to TDOT, 27 roadways and 14 bridges are closed, and five bridges were washed away.

“Bridges over hydraulic areas, we make them to withstand 100 years,” Region 3 Communications Officer for TDOT, Erin Zeigler, explained. “This was a 500-year event, so the amount of power that it took with it is really how this happened.”

Officials with TDOT told News 2 that the Nolichucky Dam overflowed, pushing nearly twice the water flow of Niagara Falls, which releases around 700,000 gallons per second.

TDOT has over 250 East Tennessee employees and over 60 statewide employees working alongside North Carolina’s Department of Transportation in the field.

“Although we are getting some contracts ready for repair, we are still in the debris removal and assessment phase,” Chief Engineer for TDOT, Will Reid, said. “We have inspected over 100 bridges in the last 36 hours in over seven counties. We still have hundreds to go.”

In Cocke County, Interstate 40 remains closed.

Greene County’s Nolichucky River Bridge that continues into Washington County is destroyed, officials said.

In addition, there is an impassable state route in Washington County. On I-26 in Unicoi County, there are reportedly five bridges gone and two state routes that are impassable.

Carter County has four state routes needing repairs and Johnson County has three, TDOT said.

There is no estimated timeline as to when I-40 or I-26 will be repaired.

“Timeline is still a question mark right now because we are still assessing the situation,” Zeigler said.

Zeigler told News 2 that they are working from a prioritized approach.

“We are taking a prioritized approach when it comes to repairing these roadways,” Zeigler expressed. “That means if there is a side road that is a little quicker to repair than a full bridge, we are going to make sure to reopen that first. We just want to make sure we are reconnecting those communities that were severed because of this storm.”

She said their goal is completing the repairs as quickly as possible.

“There is a design phase; there is an environmental phase,” Ziegler said. “There are a lot of phases that make the process a little lengthy. So with alternative delivery, we are able to do things on a quicker timeline.”

In the meantime, TDOT said drivers can find alternative routes through the TDOT SmartWay website.

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