{"id":679,"date":"2026-05-21T13:06:23","date_gmt":"2026-05-21T13:06:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=679"},"modified":"2026-05-21T13:06:23","modified_gmt":"2026-05-21T13:06:23","slug":"walls-that-will-hold-up-i-40-through-pigeon-river-gorge-begin-to-take-shape","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=679","title":{"rendered":"Walls that will hold up I-40 through Pigeon River Gorge begin to take shape"},"content":{"rendered":"

AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.<\/p>\n

Read our AI Policy.<\/a><\/p>\n

Before they can rebuild the eastbound lanes of Interstate 40 through the Pigeon River Gorge, contractors must construct massive walls to hold up the highway and ensure the river doesn\u2019t wash it away like it did after Hurricane Helene two years ago.<\/p>\n

Read more NC House votes to override Stein veto on tax break tied to private school tuition<\/a><\/p>\n

The flooding river took about 1 million cubic yards of earth and stone, causing the eastbound lanes of I-40 to collapse in 10 places<\/a> in North Carolina and several others in Tennessee. Highway departments in both states reopened I-40 through the gorge more than a year ago by converting the surviving westbound lanes to two-way traffic<\/a> at a reduced speed.<\/p>\n

But restoring the eastbound lanes means re-establishing nearly five miles of roadbed on the North Carolina side. Fully reopening the highway will cost the N.C. Department of Transportation an estimated $2 billion<\/a> and likely take until the end of 2028.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve never really faced anything like this in North Carolina before,\u201d said Blake Soblesky, the contract resident engineer. \u201cQuite an extensive repair.\u201d<\/p>\n

In late February, contractors began building the walls that will make up the highway\u2019s foundation, using a technique more commonly found in dams. They\u2019re made of roller compacted concrete, 30 feet thick, laid down in four-foot slabs that step back like an Egyptian pyramid.<\/p>\n

The concrete walls will rise from 30 to 50 feet, high enough that a future Helene-like flood won\u2019t top them. The concrete will then be covered with stone, sloping up to highway level, where eventually the pavement, shoulders and guardrails will be restored.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a long process. Contractors have built about 31,000 cubic yards of concrete, only about 4% of the 800,000 cubic yards they expect to construct. Once the concrete is in place, contractors will drive steel piles down to the bedrock at the base of the wall to keep water from getting underneath.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis design is very resilient,\u201d Soblesky said. \u201cIt\u2019s also a giant mass that can\u2019t be washed out like a small boulder.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more Only one UNC System school is not \u2018financially healthy,\u2019 report says. Here\u2019s why<\/a><\/p>\n

Almost all the stone needed to make the concrete and build up the slope will come from a quarry across the river in Pisgah National Forest. Federal officials gave NCDOT permission to mine up to 3 million cubic yards of stone<\/a> in the national forest and truck it across twin temporary bridges.<\/p>\n

The contractor in charge of the project, Ames Construction of Minnesota<\/a>, built a concrete plant between the highway and the river. Stone from the quarry is crushed to no more than 1.5 inch in diameter before being mixed with cement.<\/p>\n

The formula calls for very little water, to create a thick concrete that workers can immediately run machines over, said Josh Deyton, NCDOT\u2019s regional construction engineer.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt just stays in place,\u201d Deyton said. \u201cIt\u2019s so stiff. That\u2019s the reason you can put a dozer on top of it.\u201d<\/p>\n

As cars and trucks pass by on I-40, giant off-road dump trucks carry stone and concrete on a parallel road, down to a causeway along the river to the base of the cliff<\/a>. Having access to the quarry across the river keeps those trucks off the highway and makes it much easier and cheaper to obtain the stone needed to rebuild I-40, Soblesky said.<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause of the remote nature of the project, hauling in rock from the local quarries in Tennessee and North Carolina would be extremely expensive and time-consuming,\u201d he said. \u201cSo we\u2019re saving roughly 30% of the cost and time by getting local material on site, making it here and using it here.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more Springsteen, De Niro Slam Trump on Penultimate Episode of ‘The Late Show’<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

National forest stone used in concrete to rebuild eastbound lanes of Interstate 40 destroyed by Hurricane Helene flooding in North Carolina near Tennessee.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":678,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-679","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-read-todays-edition"],"yoast_head":"\nWalls that will hold up I-40 through Pigeon River Gorge begin to take shape - Durham Moving Hub<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=679\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Walls that will hold up I-40 through Pigeon River Gorge begin to take shape - Durham Moving Hub\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"National forest stone used in concrete to rebuild eastbound lanes of Interstate 40 destroyed by Hurricane Helene flooding in North Carolina near Tennessee.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=679\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Durham Moving Hub\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-05-21T13:06:23+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/?p=679#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/?p=679\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/bf1f081e7f06a3ab66052e5f6015fd85\"},\"headline\":\"Walls that will hold up I-40 through Pigeon River Gorge begin to take shape\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-21T13:06:23+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/?p=679\"},\"wordCount\":649,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/?p=679#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/e6665eac49a32265d6ceb76d099b6d14.jpeg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Read today's Edition\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/?p=679#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/?p=679\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/?p=679\",\"name\":\"Walls that will hold up I-40 through Pigeon River Gorge begin to take shape - Durham Moving Hub\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/?p=679#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/?p=679#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/e6665eac49a32265d6ceb76d099b6d14.jpeg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-21T13:06:23+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/bf1f081e7f06a3ab66052e5f6015fd85\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/?p=679#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/?p=679\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/?p=679#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/e6665eac49a32265d6ceb76d099b6d14.jpeg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/e6665eac49a32265d6ceb76d099b6d14.jpeg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":674},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/?p=679#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Walls that will hold up I-40 through Pigeon River Gorge begin to take shape\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Durham Moving Hub\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/bf1f081e7f06a3ab66052e5f6015fd85\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Walls that will hold up I-40 through Pigeon River Gorge begin to take shape - Durham Moving Hub","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=679","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Walls that will hold up I-40 through Pigeon River Gorge begin to take shape - Durham Moving Hub","og_description":"National forest stone used in concrete to rebuild eastbound lanes of Interstate 40 destroyed by Hurricane Helene flooding in North Carolina near Tennessee.","og_url":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=679","og_site_name":"Durham Moving Hub","article_published_time":"2026-05-21T13:06:23+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=679#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=679"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/#\/schema\/person\/bf1f081e7f06a3ab66052e5f6015fd85"},"headline":"Walls that will hold up I-40 through Pigeon River Gorge begin to take shape","datePublished":"2026-05-21T13:06:23+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=679"},"wordCount":649,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=679#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/e6665eac49a32265d6ceb76d099b6d14.jpeg","articleSection":["Read today's Edition"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=679#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=679","url":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=679","name":"Walls that will hold up I-40 through Pigeon River Gorge begin to take shape - Durham Moving Hub","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=679#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=679#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/e6665eac49a32265d6ceb76d099b6d14.jpeg","datePublished":"2026-05-21T13:06:23+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/#\/schema\/person\/bf1f081e7f06a3ab66052e5f6015fd85"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=679#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=679"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=679#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/e6665eac49a32265d6ceb76d099b6d14.jpeg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/e6665eac49a32265d6ceb76d099b6d14.jpeg","width":1200,"height":674},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=679#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Walls that will hold up I-40 through Pigeon River Gorge begin to take shape"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/","name":"Durham Moving Hub","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/#\/schema\/person\/bf1f081e7f06a3ab66052e5f6015fd85","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/durhammovinghub.com"],"url":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/679","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=679"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/679\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/678"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=679"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=679"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=679"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}