AASHTO Journal - State DOTs Continue Hurricane Helene Recovery Efforts

The North Carolina Department of Transportation and Tennessee Department of Transportation continue to move forward with their respective Hurricane Helene recovery operations.

[Above photo by NCDOT]

The NCDOT said that, as of (include date), its crews and contractors have reopened more than 600 roads, mostly in Western, NC, with “cut-and-shove” crews creating more than 4,100 debris sites alongside state roadsides as part of their road-clearing efforts.

Some 2,000 NCDOT employees are working on the recovery operations, using dump trucks, backhoes and graders to clear roads. Concurrently, the North Carolina Division of Motor Vehicles – an arm of NCDOT – has 50 employees in its License and Theft Unit providing security in seven mountain communities.

The agency said reopened roads include I-40 near Old Fort and in downtown Asheville, I-26 in Henderson and Polk counties, as well as U.S. 221, U.S. 321 and U.S. 421 in the Boone area, and U.S. 70 and U.S. 25 in Asheville. NCDOT added that its crews are “being intentional” in their work with various utility companies to get roads open so power can be restored to those communities still lacking electricity.

However, NCDOT has identified more than 6,900 sites where roads and bridges are damaged due to the storm, with more road closures potentially in the future as the agency continues its post-hurricane assessments

“Damage estimates from what we have been able to assess to this point are up to several billion dollars and we’re not done,” noted Joey Hopkins, NCDOT secretary, in a statement. “The damage to our roads and bridges is like nothing we’ve ever seen after any storm, and this will be a long-term recovery operation. But we will be here until Western NC can get back on its feet.”

To that end, NCDOT recently awarded a $10 million contract to Wright Brothers Construction to stabilize the westbound lanes of I-40 in the Pigeon River Gorge. The agency is working with Tennessee transportation officials and the Federal Highway Administration on the long-term plan for reconstruction of I-40 in the gorge.

NCDOT is also urging truckers not to use routes that are restricted near the Tennessee border because those roads are not equipped to handle trucks longer than 30 feet. Instead, the agency is directing truckers to use detour routes and using tools to inform truckers of the road conditions such as sending wireless emergency alerts to cellular devices and changing overhead digital signs to notify trucks of appropriate routes.

NCDOT’s Division of Aviation has also been coordinating flight missions to air drop emergency supplies to affected areas and gather aerial imagery that can be used to photograph difficult-to-access areas. NCDOT’s drone teams and photogrammetry unit, the Civil Air Patrol, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration have flown about 250 missions to capture images that are being used to inform the massive disaster response effort.

Meanwhile, the Tennessee DOT just awarded a Progressive Design-Build or PDB contract to expedite the reconstruction of two bridges destroyed by Hurricane Helene – the Nolichucky River bridges along SR-107 in Greene County and SR-81 in Washington County – with a target date to open both bridges to traffic by June 2025.

[Editor’s note: The video below by Tennessee DOT provides a broad look at just some of the devastation wrought in the eastern part of the state by Hurricane Helene.]

Replacement of the SR-107 and SR-81 bridges over the Nolichucky River is critical to Greene and Washington County residents, as they provide connectivity between the Greeneville, Jonesborough, and Erwin communities.

The contractor is also already beginning to prepare multiple work packages that will allow for early project site cleanup, removal of remaining bridge pieces, site preparation for construction, and acquisition of long lead items, such as bridge beams, all of which aid in accelerating the schedule, Tennessee DOT noted.

The agency said that PDB contract – an approach used by Florida Department of Transportation to rebuild Sanibel Causeway Bridge after the Causeway was destroyed by Hurricane Ian in 2022 – is made possible by the Transportation Modernization Act, passed by the state legislature in April 2023 and signed into law by Governor Bill Lee (R).

“We passed the Transportation Modernization Act in partnership with the General Assembly to ensure Tennessee DOT could effectively meet [state] transportation needs without new taxes or debt,” the governor noted in a statement. “I’m proud that we have the resources available to swiftly respond to the urgent needs of communities severely impacted by Hurricane Helene.”

“This has been a challenging time for many, with entire communities cut off from essential resources,” added Butch Eley, deputy governor and Tennessee DOT commissioner.

“We are working diligently to keep them connected and are thankful for the authority to utilize this alternative method to accelerate recovery efforts,” he added. “[We are] committed to helping citizens return to normalcy as quickly as possible following the devastation caused by the hurricane.”

Meanwhile, the agency recently dispatched special “Strike Force” crews to the greater Tampa area to assist the Florida DOT recover from Hurricane Milton.

Those “Strike Force” teams are specialized groups comprised of Tennessee DOT equipment operators, engineers, and transportation experts who can deploy quickly in natural disasters to help with heavy debris removal, infrastructure assessments, and road repairs.

The agency said 29 employees from Regions 2 and 3 mobilized as “Strike Force” teams in 27 vehicles hauling 12 pieces of heavy construction equipment and six supply trailers. They plan to embed with Florida DOT crews for at least 14 days.

“We’re proud to have the resources available to mobilize swiftly to help with the urgent needs of our neighbors in Florida severely impacted by Hurricane Milton,” says Tennessee DOT’s Eley in a separate statement. “We’ll work diligently with our Florida DOT partners to accelerate their recovery efforts and restore connectivity in the region just as they did for us after Hurricane Helene devastated upper East Tennessee.”