In the states hit in late September by Hurricane Helene, cleanup continues as bridges and roads are repaired and reopened.
An October 4 report from AASHTO said Helene dumped an estimated 20 trillion to 40 trillion gallons of water in the Southeastern U.S. and caused some $35 billion or more in damages. The Associated Press recently put the death toll at 227.
Tennessee Reopens Two State Roads, Working on I-40
Tennessee DOT reported Hurricane Helene left the state with hundreds of millions of dollars in infrastructure damage, including destroying five bridges. On October 4, the department re-opened two severely damaged state roads to traffic: SR 350 in Greene County and SR 133 in Johnson County.
TDOT Regional Communications Officer for Region 1 Mark Nagi posted October 5 on Facebook that the department will work over the “next 2 weeks” to reopen a portion of I-40 near the North Carolina state line.
TDOT’s SmartWay system still showed over a dozen major impact road closures in the eastern part of the state as of October 9. The department said long-term closures will be in place across the region, as many routes will require significant repairs and some require a total rebuild.
The Tennessee Department of Military reported 16 confirmed fatalities in the state related to Hurricane Helene.
North Carolina Gets FHWA Aid
Western North Carolina was hit particularly hard during the storm, with NCDOT initially saying residents should consider every road in the western portion of the state closed. A large area in western North Carolina remains designated as “essential travel only” by NCDOT. Repair times for I-40, which was decimated by mudslides, remain unknown.
The Federal Highway Administration has appropriated $100 million in Emergency Relief funds for NCDOT for emergency work.
While cleaning up and repairing infrastructure, North Carolina DOT has deployed 1,600 employees plus 68 contract crews; 1,500-plus trucks, graders and backhoes; 1,000-plus chainsaws; and 8,000-plus barricades and signs.
South Carolina Works on Bridges
In South Carolina, DOT crews continue to work on bridges impacted by the storm, including Shady Grove Road bridge in Pickens County, which was recently reopened to traffic.
Crews made repairs to the Shady Grove Bridge (seen here) and replaced a portion of the bank that had washed away.SCDOT
SCDOT crews are also working on re-opening the U.S. 276 Bridge in Greenville County, which can be seen below.
