TDOT Reopens U.S. 441 Southbound in Sevier County

 

 “It has been our goal since day one to reopen both the north and southbound lanes to free flowing traffic as quickly as possible,” Region One Director Steve Borden said. “We are pleased to reopen one lane of the roadway nearly two weeks early, but there is still much work to be completed on this project.”

 

TDOT awarded Charles Blalock & Sons, Inc. a $713,909 emergency repair contract on February 8 with a provision that the southbound roadway must be safely reopened by March 12. The project was broken into two phases. Phase one included clearing and stabilizing the slope, constructing a retaining wall and reopening the southbound lanes to traffic. TDOT incorporated a $5,000 per day incentive into the contract for the completion of phase one by no later than March 12. The contractor also faced a disincentive of $5,000 per day for failure to reopen the roadway by March 12. 

 

Charles Blalock & Sons, Inc. has now finished phase one of the clean-up and repair of the rockslide, which included constructing a 100 ft. wide and 20 ft. high retaining wall.

 

Phase two of the project will begin immediately which will include the installation of a stained rock facade, restriping and repaving of the impacted area. In order to reduce the impact to weekend travelers along the route, the contractor will be required to keep two lanes of traffic open in each direction beginning at 6 a.m. on Fridays through 12:01 a.m. on Mondays.

 

The entire emergency project is scheduled to be finished on or before April 30, 2010.

For more information on TDOT road construction projects visit the TDOT SmartWay web site at . People may also dial 511 from any land-line or cellular phone to access travel conditions anytime. TDOT is now on Twitter. For up to the minute traffic information in Knoxville and the Tri-Cities follow us on Twitter at . For statewide travel information follow .