Brian Williams just showed this clip on the NBS Nightly News...... Anticipate weeks to clear and re-open road.....

Well I guess it's a good thing it didn't happen in June! Wow! Hey, we have got to plan a big boating trip for 12/21/2012!
Wes

Wes:

How about a BWA trip to Equador for 12/21/12?

Brent

200k would probably get some new rapids. There's already one at the putin:



Somebody needs to get the word to the road crew to please leave enough rocks for HellHole A :-)
barryg

Actually, they had a minor earthquake there just recently, which is being floated as a contributing factor, along with the rain.

The rock they were busting up in the first part of the video had fallen earlier that day, which was why the road was closed at the moment and also the reason a news camera was on hand shooting when the mountainside came down.

Awfully neighborly of Ma Nature to give the folks in Polk County a heads up like that before letting loose.

Hanley

For those who knew the Ocoee like the back of their hand, this will make it a new adventure for a little while. I assume rock will keep moving downstream in high water for a while, making new surprises.

You never boat in the same river twice....

yeah, I'm afraid my favorite move on the river will be gone. White face boof. I'll continue hoping that this will just add more boofs throughout grumpies.

How about this.....what about if enough rocks remain in the river that more water is required to be released so that the rafts can have a channel to paddle down safely and without pinning rafts. You heard it hear first...Ocoee runs at 4000cfs all next summer.

Ye Worde on Ye Ocoee, or Ocoeee, or what ye helle evere. New

Forum: BoaterTalk
Date: Nov 12 2009, 2:07 GMT
From: Grateful_Ed
OK...I was at the middle putin on a quasi-official pretext today, and here's what you can't see in the videos.

The slide scoured highway 64 clean off its bed and pushed it halfway across the base of the dam. The lower ramp and launch pad are buried under maybe 15 feet of rockslab, crushed jersey barriers, and pine trees. The slide extends from the launch pad down to the first gate pole on river right, but it looks like Whiteface got spared. Where 64 itself was is now covered by more like 20 to 25 feet of debris, most of it car- and house-sized boulders.

The entry chute is GONE, as is the little elevator move to the base of the dam. So is all that sharp concrete over to the right of the launch ramp, which: good riddance to.

I spent some time discussing the cleanup plan with a TDOT emergency repair specialist, a TVA cop, and a construction worker. Work's generally expected to start in maybe a week, which is about the length of time it's going to take the various agencies to sort out the contract terms and decide where the money's going to flow from, and to whom. Meanwhile, there's a bunch of equipment already in place, and workers are standing by.

Even when the contract's in place the cliff face still has to be stabilized. TDOT is thinking they'll have to blast or otherwise remove at least as much material from the cliff face as has already fallen. But they've got good ideas about what to do with it: to avoid haulout they'll likely be crushing the rock onsite and using it to reface the dam and raise the grade of 64.

Nobody wants to guess how long this'll all take, but two months is the gut-guess I got from the TDOT rep. He didn't seem particularly fazed by the problem, either...his job is to travel around the state fixing this kind of thing, and I gathered he's seen worse.

Bear in mind, though, that two months is only one person's estimate to re-open the road. I asked all three of these guys who was going to clean up the boat ramp, and when they were going to do it, and not only did nobody have a clue, but they didn't even want to speculate. The boat ramp is apparently the rotten little cheese in this maze of overlapping jurisdictions...the only garbled picture I could pull together is that the Army Corps of Engineers built it, TVA owns it, TDEC maintains it, and God only knows who pays for it. And don't quote me on any of that, because it might be sheer bullshit.

Apart from that, and based on what I saw and heard today, there's a good shot we'll be paddling on opening day. We may have to launch at Staging, and whether the rafting companies will be launching from the old rail putin or from something new at the dam is anyone's guess, but the outlook ain't bad, considering a mountain fell on our heads.

Yer pal...

Ed
[boatertalk.com]

Jay Leno had a clip of the rock slide on his show last night. The spoof was of him picking some flowers on the side of the road where the slide happened and then well you know ‘The mountain has come off’.

Dang Bubba I was to much of wussy to run that line. I hope it's not lost for good. At least since it is dam release they can go in and clean it out some. And dont think those raft companies will keep quiet.

Ledgeman

A time lapse, zoomable picture of the slide and work progress which takes 1 picture every 11 minutes, will run for the duration of the project

[oxblue.com]

Amazingly it appears that the putin eddy and the immediately adjacent area are relatively unaffected?
barryg

Work Begins On Emergency Clean-up of U.S. 64 Rockslide

U.S. 64 Expected to Remain Closed for at Least Eight Weeks

NASHVILLE – Work is now underway to remove a major rockslide along U.S. Highway 64 in Polk County, Tennessee. The Tennessee Department of Transportation has awarded a $2.1 million emergency repair contract to Sevierville, Tennessee based Charles Blalock and Sons, Inc. The rockslide buried portions of U.S. Highway 64 at approximately 1:00 p.m. on Tuesday, November 10, 2009 closing the major east-west corridor through Southeast Tennessee just east of Chattanooga. TDOT originally estimated at least three weeks for clean-up, but after a closer look at the slide area the removal process will likely take at least eight weeks.

“We know the closure of this roadway is a major inconvenience to the many motorists who travel U.S. 64 between Cleveland and Ducktown each day,” said TDOT Commissioner Gerald Nicely. “We appreciate your patience while the work is completed. TDOT will work very closely with the contractor and the community to get this roadway back open as soon as possible.”

Before any material can be removed from the site crews with Charles Blalock & Sons, Inc. will first work to stabilize the slope. Workers will immediately begin scaling and trimming the rock along the face of the mountain. Crews will remove unstable material from the top of the mountainside and will drive large 40’ long rock anchors to help secure other material along the slope. Once the rock along the face of the mountainside has been stabilized, crews will begin removing the large boulders and other slide material located at the bottom of the mountain. After all slide material has been removed, the contractor will repair the damaged roadbed on U.S. 64 and TDOT crews will repave the roadway and reopen it to traffic.

“We estimate that some 30,000 cubic yards of rock and other debris will need to be removed from the site, which is approximately 3,000 dump truckloads of material,” said TDOT Chief Engineer Paul Degges. “This is dangerous work that requires a highly skilled contractor. Our geotechnical engineers will be working closely with Blalock throughout the project to ensure the slide removal is completed safely and as quickly as possible.”

TDOT has created a special web page for the U.S. 64 rockslide (http://bit.ly/1Tlc8m). The site currently includes news releases, photos and a map of the slide detour. In the coming days TDOT will be adding daily progress updates, updated photos, periodical video updates and a live time-lapse camera of work at the site. Due to the dangerous and unpredictable nature of the work, once the removal process is underway no one will be allowed on the work site without a TDOT escort. Media wishing to gain access to the site must contact TDOT Region 2 Community Relations Officer Jennifer Flynn at (423)-510-1164 or Jennifer.Flynn@tn.gov.

Information on the slide is available to travelers by dialing 511 from any land line or cell phone. Updates will also be provided on TDOT’s Chattanooga area Twitter page www.twitter.com/Chattanooga511 and on TDOT’s statewide Twitter site . Motorists should always use motorist information tools responsibly and refrain from texting, tweeting or using a mobile phone while operating a vehicle. TDOT advises drivers to “Know before you go!” by checking traffic conditions before leaving for your destination.

[news.tennesseeanytime.org]