AASHTO Journal, 8 February 2013
The Tennessee Department of Transportation acted fast to repair damage to a major interstate caused by a landslide—so fast, TDOT was able to complete the repairs four months earlier than anticipated.
I-75 in Campbell County was first constructed 50 years ago from native material (shale and weathered sandstone, specifically), before any TDOT standard specification existed to deal with the degradable material. Since the highway’s construction, water had weakened the strength of the embankment material and ultimately made it unable to support the interstate. This all came to a head on March 8, 2012, when a landslide occurred, which resulted in a loss of the southbound lanes of I-75 and concern about the stability of the northbound lanes.
TDOT had to act quickly in order to make the roadway safe and ultimately return to normal operation as soon as possible. The $11.89 million repair consisted of removing about 213,000 cubic yards of slide material from the site, while bringing in and producing more than 400,000 tons of various types of stone to rebuild the slope.
Though TDOT had originally planned to have the project done by the end of September, the department was able to make the necessary repairs and open the roadway in the middle of August, more than a month ahead of schedule. TDOT credits the early completion to strong cooperation between the geotechnical, design, and construction divisions of TDOT and the partnership and hard work of its contractor (Elmo Greer and Sons, LLC), subcontractor (Soil Nail Launchers, Inc.) and materials suppliers (Rogers Group, Inc. and Hinkle, Inc.).
“I want to applaud the work of our TDOT employees, as well as our contractor, in delivering this project more than a month early,” said TDOT Commissioner John Schroer in a statement.
The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials features a Project of the Week in each edition of the AASHTO Journal to highlight excellent state transportation department projects that are completed on time, under budget, and/or using innovative management. To nominate a completed project that meets these criteria, please e-mail editor AT aashtojournal.org. Previous Project of the Week selections are available at projectprofiles.transportation.org.