Repair operation scheduled today
A landslide on Saturday morning, Jan. 4 closed US 19/74 in the Nantahala Gorge near Hewitts Road for much of the day.
North Carolina Department of Transportation reported that the large mudslide, occurring around 7:30 a.m. involved no vehicles.
The slide was near Ferebee Park across from the rock quarry.
Swain County 911 first began receiving calls of falling rock in the area before the slide.
“We’re fortunate no one’s car was hit this time,” said David Breedlove, Swain County Emergency Management Director.
No injuries were reported due to the incident, according to Swain County Emergency Management.
The road was closed to traffic as NCDOT cleared debris and traffic was rerouted through Robbinsville. It was reopened to one lane of traffic riverside with a light signal by around 6 p.m. Saturday. The one-lane patter continued through Wednesday.
“There were about 20-25 dump truck loads of material that were removed from the site,” said David Uchiyama, communications officers with NCDOT Division 14. “It took a big portion of the day on the clean up and establishing catchment devices and temporary stop lights.”
NCDOT engineers were assessing the extent of the damage and developing a plan for repairs on Monday morning, he said.
Today, Thursday, Jan. 9, the road will be closed to traffic as DOT conducts a scaling operation to remove loose debris from the mountainside.
The road will be closed today between Wayah Road on the west and Pizza by the River on the East and traffic will be routed for the day through Robbinsville.
From 8 a.m. until sunset on Thursday, the detour will direct westbound traffic from U.S. 19/74 to N.C. 28 to Stecoah then N.C. 143 to Robbinsville and U.S. 129 to Topton and U.S. 74. Eastbound traffic will go to Robbinsville, then Stecoah en route to Bryson City. The detour is about 20 minutes longer than driving through the gorge.
“A contractor will remove rocks and other loose material, and that should reduce the risk of another slide at this location,” said Wesley Grindstaff, Division 14 maintenance engineer, in a press release. “It’s best to do this preventative maintenance now. We’ll take a full day and remove any remaining unstable material to ensure this area is safe for travel.”
Swain County Fire Marshal, Swain County Sheriff’s Office, West Swain Fire Department and Nantahala Fire & Rescue were among the responding agencies Saturday.
This slide is one of several slides that have impacted US 19/74 in the Nantahala Gorge in the past year or so.
For those traveling the road regularly, Breedlove offered the following: “My only advice is to be alert as they go through the gorge and watch for falling rock because a few rocks may be an indication that there may be more coming,” he said.