Cleanup finished for collapsed Polk County road, repair time unknown, says TDOT

From Local 3 News: In Polk County, a section of Highway 30 near Sage Hill Road, or Kimsey Mountain Highway in Reliance, Tennessee, will be closed until further notice. We spoke with one resident who said his friend was driving on the highway when it collapsed.

"A friend of mine was coming through there this morning going to work, and he ran off into that and ended up in off the bank. He's okay, but messed his truck up pretty bad," Johnny Dunn recalls.

The driver told Local 3 that he is doing okay, however, his car is damaged.

Regional Communications Officer with TDOT Rae Anne Bradley mentioned crews have been out since early Thursday morning monitoring the slope. She says the slide was due to an over-saturation of the ground from the excessive rainfall which caused the materials of the road to shift. She says this has not happened in this particular area in five years or more.

Bradley explains assessments of the road conditions and the slope itself determine which repairs are needed. She emphasizes geo-technical crews, maintenance crews, and roadway engineers coordinated the next steps to make repairs as efficiently and as safely as possible; however, several factors had to be considered when making these decisions.

"For example, how large the section of roadway is that needs to be repaired, the slope conditions at this particular location, the soil type at this particular location, the extent of the slide, and any type of damage that has resulted from the slide," Bradley explains.

As a resident of Polk County for 68 years, Dunn says it was only a matter of time before the road would collapse since it started breaking off a while ago even before the excessive rain.

"This road had been breaking off for months, and all of these big trucks we've been having coming through here, the semis, with, you know, anywhere from forty to eighty thousand-pound loads on it just contributed to the problem," Dunn adds.

He is thankful that nobody was hurt. He is also glad that there was no school in Polk County, since Highway 30 is now a hazard for school buses.

He recalls hearing about the incident over the radio around 4:00am on Thursday morning, and says the fire department, THP, and TDOT all responded.

Dunn mentions there are trees hanging off of the road that need to be removed to avoid potential accidents. He wants to be heard when addressing these future problems.

Bradley says one lane is now reopened for cars to use on Highway 30, or Kimsey Mountain Highway. She says the cleanup process is officially complete after removing the excess debris. Bradley added a road buttress is being built to reinforce the slope.

"They have already begun hauling rock to the slope this morning to rebuild the road and the slope. So far, I think they've already gotten over 100 tons of rock on the ground, so our crews are making great progress towards repairs of the slope and the roadway."

Currently, only one direction is allowed to use the roadway at a time. Bradley describes what drivers will encounter when they get to the area:

"Essentially, depending on what direction you are traveling, you'll have to stop and let the opposing traffic go through, and that signal will be on a timer, and then that light will turn red. Then, the traffic from the opposing direction will be able to use the lane."

With the additional rainfall we'll receive across the Tennessee Valley on Saturday, the repair process could be affected.

In the meantime, Bradley advises while the one lane is reopened, use caution, look for any oncoming cars before driving, and be alert of your surroundings.

Repair time is still to be determined, but crews have worked safely and quickly so far. The repair work is weather-dependent and will be adjusted as needed.
 
For more information, visit Rae Anne Bradley’s X account.