3:25 p.m. April 15, 2013
Newfound Gap Road reopens between Gatlinburg and Cherokee
By Jeaneane Payne, Publisher

Officials announce the reopening of Newfound Gap Rd. (Left to right: Eastern Ban of Cherokee Indians Principal Chief Michell Hicks, Park Supt. Dale Ditmanson, NC Congressman Mark Meadows. Far right: FHWA Construction Operations Engineer Emmett Melton). Image by Jeaneane Payne

Highway 441 between Gatlinburg, TN and Cherokee, NC was reopened this morning at 9:48 a.m. exactly 30 days ahead of the scheduled completion date of May 15, 2013. Park Superintendent Dale Ditmanson, NC Congressman Mark Meadows, Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians Principal Chief Michell Hicks, and Federal Highways Administration (FHWA) Construction Operations Engineer Emmett Melton jointly announced the opening of the road.

Newfound Gap Rd (Hwy 441) reopened today		Landslide on January 16, 2013
Park staff preparing to open the road.		Park staff removes the Road Closed signed.
Above images by Jeaneane Payne

The highway was closed between Newfound Gap and Gatlinburg, TN and between Smokemont, NC and Cherokee, NC following a major landslide on January 16, 2013. The landslide was caused primarily by heavy rainfall over a period of two days.

Restoration of Hwy 441 was a cooperative effort between the National Park Service, FHWA, Phillips & Jordan, Inc. (P&J), APAC Harrison Division, and all subcontractors. The primary repair contract was awarded to P&J who submitted a bid of $3,989,890.00 who gave a projected completion date of May 15, 2013. The Eastern Band of the Cherokee Indian (EBCI) and the National Park Service jointly offered a monetary incentive of $18,000 per day for each day of completion prior to May 15 up to a maximum of $504,000.

“We recognize the economic importance of the road to our neighboring communities and are grateful that our partners at Federal Highways Administration and were able to respond efficiently to our need and work with the contractors to make the necessary repairs in less than 90 days,” said Superintendent Ditmanson.

Officials, contractors, Indian Chief, FHWA. Image by Jeaneane Payne

Phase I of the reconstruction project was completed on February 21, 2013 by APAC Harrison Division who developed an access road to the slide area. They also removed debris and stabilized the slope above the work area. On February 22, 2013 P&J mobilized equipment to begin Phase 2 of the reconstruction which included rebuilding the roadway and filling the area washed away during the landslide with crushed stone.

The final design includes over 200 feet of pipes to allow for the drainage of subsurface water flow along with 150 feet of side drainage leading to a culvert at the end of the slope. This drainage system and pervious crushed stone material will further protect the road and park resources from future damage due to both overflow and subsurface water flow. The fill area was naturally sloped and planted with seed. In addition, erosion measures were put into place along the 900 foot debris field below the landslide which was also seeded.

Emmett Melton stated "It took 2,500 truck loads of dirt to fill the gap created by the landslide." Construction crews worked around the clock (24/7) to complete the project as quickly as possible. "We had materials stockpiled at the site in case of inclement weather. Crews only missed 2 days of work simply because they couldn't get to the site."

"The economic impact on Cherokee, NC and Gatlinburg, TN has not yet been determined," said Ditmanson.

"We lost two weeks of spring break," stated Chief Hicks. "As far as the costs involved in repairing the road, the Tennessee side should have helped us with costs but did not."

The first person to drive a vehicle across the reopened road was Jeaneane Payne of Knoxville, TN.

Published April 15, 2013