Emergency repairs to close part of I-40 detour route

Motorists following the Interstate 40 rock slide detour be wary - there's another obstacle in your route.

Emergency repairs to a set of overpasses on I-81 in Greene County, TN will force 12 hour weekend closures on part of the detour route. The emergency road work is on Interstate 81 at Exit 23 (US 11E).

The repairs are being made on cracked support beams that carry US 11E over I-81. . The repairs will occur over the next two weekends - resulting in 12 hour road closures - on the freeway.

The first closure will affect the northbound lanes of I-81 (the detour route for eastbound I-40 travelers) this weekend. I-81 North at Exit 23 will be closed from 10 pm Saturday, November 14th through 10 am Sunday, November 15th.

Fortunately, there is not much of a detour involved for this work. Traffic will be detoured along the Exit 23 off and on ramps. The problem will be funneling traffic into one lane and then onto the ramps. So expect some delays - even though the construction will happen during lightly traveled hours.

The following weekend, the southbound lanes of I-81 will be closed from 10 pm Saturday, November 21st through 10 am Sunday, November 22nd.

The cracks were found during an ongoing rehabilitation of the bridge which is scheduled to end in June 2010.

For more: TDOT announces upcoming detour on I-81 ---Knoxville News Sentinel

Comments

Interstate 40's Tumultuous Ride Through the Pigeon River Gorge

In the nearly 60 years Interstate 40 has been open to traffic through the Pigeon River Gorge in the mountains of Western North Carolina, it has been troubled by frequent rockslides and damaging flooding, which has seen the over 30-mile stretch through North Carolina and Tennessee closed for months at a time. Most recently, excessive rainfall from Hurricane Helene in September 2024 saw sections of Interstate 40 wash away into a raging Pigeon River. While the physical troubles of Interstate 40 are well known, how I-40 came to be through the area is a tale of its own. Interstate 40 West through Haywood County near mile marker 10. I-40's route through the Pigeon River Gorge dates to local political squabbles in the 1940s and a state highway law written in 1921. A small note appeared in the July 28, 1945, Asheville Times. It read that the North Carolina State Highway Commission had authorized a feasibility study of a "...water-level road down [the] Pigeon River to the Tennessee l...

Massena Center Suspension Bridge

The Massena Center Bridge, also known as the Holton D. Robinson Bridge, has had quite the tumultuous history. Situated on the Grasse River just east of Massena, New York in the hamlet of Massena Center, the Massena Center Bridge is a reminder of the efforts the community has made in order to connect over the river. The first and only other known bridge to be built at Massena Center was built in 1832, but that bridge was never long for this world. During the spring of 1833, the Grasse River dammed itself due to an ice dam, flooded and lifted the bridge off its foundation, destroying the bridge in the process. The floods were frequent in the river during the spring, often backing up the river from Hogansburg and past Massena Center, but not to nearby Massena. After the first bridge disappeared, local residents had to resort to traveling seven miles west to Massena to cross the next closest bridge, and that was no easy task for a horse and buggy. However, it was many decades befo...

The Dead Man's Curve of Interstate 90 and Innerbelt Freeway in Cleveland

"Dead Man's Curve" refers to the transition ramp Interstate 90 takes between Cleveland Memorial Shoreway onto the Innerbelt Freeway in downtown Cleveland, Ohio. Said curve includes a sharp transition between the two freeways which is known for a high rate of accidents. Currently the curve (not officially named) has a 35 MPH advisory speed and numerous safety features intended to mitigate crashes. When the Interstate System was first conceived during 1956, Interstate 90 was intended to use the entirety Cleveland Memorial Shoreway and connect to the Northwest Freeway through Lakewood. The Innerbelt Freeway was initially planned as the northernmost segment of Interstate 71. The extension of Cleveland Memorial Shoreway west of Edgewater Park was never constructed which led to Interstate 90 being routed through the Innerbelt Freeway. Part 1; the history of Cleveland's Innerbelt Freeway and Deadman's Curve The Federal Aid Highway Act of 1956 was signe...

Gribblenation

Search This Blog