A Watchful Eye on I-40: How New Monitors are Boosting Safety in the Gorge

Haywood County --  The I-40 corridor through North Carolina's Pigeon River Gorge has always been a tough stretch of road, but recent events have highlighted how unpredictable it can be.  

The North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) is now dealing with these issues directly with new, high-tech slope monitors.  These monitors maintain a careful eye on the land and aim to stop problems from developing in the future.

This steep area in Haywood County, near the Tennessee state border, is used to the raw might of nature.  In September 2024, Hurricane Helene dropped torrential rains, it became evident that the area had a history of landslides and rockslides.   The storm's fury caused the Pigeon River to swell, which made the roadway weaker and caused major mudslides that cut up vast areas of the route.

In the wake of Helene's destruction, NCDOT embarked on a monumental repair effort.   In March 2025, I-40 partially reopened, with one lane open in each direction and lower speed limits.  But the world is still evolving.   Other things, including a rockslide in June 2025, have proved how crucial it is to always pay attention.

That's when the new way to monitor slopes comes in.  These high-tech equipment display any movement of the earth in real time, so NCDOT officials can be notified immediately if something changes.  You can't only deal with difficulties; you have to stay ahead of them.   As soon as the monitors observe movement, a project team is dispatched to check it out.  This makes sure that any potential threat to drivers or the construction workers who are working hard to remedy things is addressed right away.

There is a lot of building going on in the Gorge.  To keep the slopes from moving, crews are using new technologies like "soil nailing." This means hammering long steel rods deep into the bedrock and holding them in place with shotcrete.  They're also building robust retaining walls and obtaining stone from nearby areas in the Pisgah National Forest to speed things forward and keep things from getting too messy.

The monitors are an important element of this hard job.  They give NCDOT continuous feedback, which helps them make decisions and adapt their plans as the land changes.  It will be at least 2027, and maybe even 2028, before I-40 is completely rebuilt along this critical route.

These new monitoring systems, on the other hand, show that NCDOT is committed to keeping everyone who utilizes this critical road as safe as possible.   It's a proactive step that gives NCDOT a "head start on safety" by keeping an eye on the ground so that we can all drive more safely.

WNCTimes

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