North Carolina Advances I-40 Pigeon River Gorge Rebuild

The North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) received key environmental permits to rebuild parts of Interstate 40 damaged by Hurricane Helene last year.

Flooding caused by Hurricane Helene last September swept away portions of I-40’s pavement and guardrails into the Pigeon River Gorge. It left exposed rock face along a miles-long stretch of the highway’s eastbound lanes near the Tennessee border.

The affected roadway was previously used by about 26,000 drivers a day. NCDOT hopes to reopen it by early 2028, with an estimated cost of $1.3 billion.

“There are few projects in Western North Carolina more important in the recovery process than the rebuilding of I-40,” said James Melonas, forest supervisor with the National Forests in North Carolina.

To extract rock for the project, NCDOT secured a 404 Individual Permit from the Army Corps of Engineers and a 401 Water Quality Certification from the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality’s Water Resources Division.

The build will use up to 3 million cubic yards of local stone from the nearby Pisgah National Forest. This reduces estimated construction costs and allows work to begin sooner.

“Having these permits in-hand will allow us to now access the borrow site and begin the next — and probably most critical — phase of the I-40 repair process,” NCDOT Secretary Joey Hopkins said in a news release.

Crews are currently building a causeway next to the Pigeon River corridor. This structure provides necessary access to the base of I-40 for geotechnical data collection. Contractor Ames Construction will then use the information to properly design the required retaining walls without additional road closures.

Workers will soon begin constructing the base of a temporary bridge across the Pigeon River, as well as a haul road to the 33-acre extraction site.

“We will proceed with this phase of construction with strict adherence to the construction plans and permit requirements,” NCDOT Division 14 Engineer Wesley Grindstaff said in a news release. “We have the goal of minimizing impacts to natural resources while fully restoring the transportation services on I-40.”

NCDOT has partnered with multiple federal and state agencies on the rebuild, including the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Highway Administration, U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Forest Service, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, North Carolina Division of Water Resources and North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission.

Sources: North Carolina Department of Transportation, Raleigh News & Observer