All Lanes Open After Rockslide on Alcoa Highway in Knox County
Wednesday, December 01, 2010 | 12:10am
[img:1 align=float_left]KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - All lanes of U.S. 129/State Route 115 are now back open and rockslide debris has been cleared from the area near Woodson Road.
After approval from a Tennessee Department of Transportation geotechnical engineer, maintenance crews pushed the rock out of the road to reopen the northbound lane shortly before 6:45 a.m. Crews later closed one lane shortly before 9:00 a.m. to clear rocks from the bottom of the slope and the shoulder. The rockslide occurred shortly before 4:00 a.m. this morning. City of Knoxville crews hauled away six dump trucks of debris from the slide area and re-opened all lanes shortly before 2:45 p.m.
[img:2 align=float_right]Concrete barriers have been installed to keep any further loose material from reaching the roadway. TDOT geotechnical engineers will continue to monitor the area to determine if permanent fencing will be needed.
For up to the minute traffic information visit the TDOT SmartWay website at www.tn.gov/tdot/tdotsmartway or call 511. People can also follow TDOT on twitter at www.twitter.com/Knoxville511 for traffic alerts for the Knoxville and the Tri-Cities or at www.twitter.com/TN511 for statewide travel tweets.
###