Rockslide blocks I-40 west in Cocke County

NEWPORT (WATE) - An overnight rock slide is blocking both lanes on I-40 westbound in Cocke County.

The slide is between mile markers 450 and 451.

The rocks started sliding around 10:30 Monday night and by early Tuesday morning, the situation became treacherous.

TDOT Regional Director Steven Borden monitored the condition of the rockslide all morning. "The rocks that came off the slope are roughly the size of a car. However, there's a large wedge that's broken loose. It's roughly the size of a large house," he said.

The large boulder balancing on smaller rocks was a concern, but TDOT officials say if the wedge had fallen, more rocks could have crashed onto the roadway.

They say the cause of the slide is the wet weather this winter.

"The water freezes inside those crevasses and breaks through, and eventually you have a failure as we've had here," Borden explained.

TDOT civil engineer Manager David Barker says the rocks at immediate risk of falling will be removed. Then the slope will be secured.

"We do rock bolting if the rock structure is favorable. We have a pin wire mesh that we've used. There are other methods out there, even a higher strength pin mesh," Barker said.

Cocke County Mayor Vaughn Moore said when he learned about the slide, he thought "not again. It was about 5:30 this morning and I was watching Channel 6 at the time."

However, the mayor said he had to see the size of the slide for himself Tuesday and think about the enormous consequences it could mean for his community, essentially cut off from all westbound traffic.

"It's very devastating. We're probably losing over half of our tourist trade," Mayor Moore said. "When you're coming from Asheville, this is the first stop in about 40 miles where people can stop and visit our fast food restaurants so it's devastating to our economy and the sales tax revenue for the county."

Drivers traveling on I-40 west from North Carolina can take this detour around the rockslide area:

I-240 west (Exit 53B) in Asheville to I-26 west (Exit 4A) to I-81 south (Exit 8A) back to I-40 west

The detour route is approximately 53 miles.

TDOT geotechnical engineers are continuing to evaluate the slide and are developing a plan to stabilize the mountainside.

An emergency contract will also be initiated to clean-up debris from Tuesday's slide.

There's no estimate yet for when I-40 west will reopen.