NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — The Tennessee Department of Transportation gave an update Sunday afternoon on the storm damage and how it's impacting the transportation system across Tennessee.
Over 100 bridges have already been inspected, and there are hundreds more to go, according to Will Reid, Deputy Commissioner/Chief Engineer for TDOT. As of right now, 27 sections of TDOT are closed, 14 state bridges are closed, and 5 bridges are completely gone. These bridge repairs are TDOT's priority, as well as debris and tree pickup.
They have 250 region 1 employees, over 60 people from their other 3 regions, maintenance workers and bridge inspectors, and assets from technical areas working to assess damage.
They are calling this rainfall event a 500 event — which is "historic" for Tennessee, as the interstates are only built for hundred year events.
Reid said at one point during the impacts of Helene, over 1.2 million gallons per second of water were coming over the Nolichucky Dam. As a comparison, 700,000 gallons per second is the peak for Niagra Falls.
As the rainfall continues to recede, Reid says additional issues are needing to be addressed. Local emergency management stations and TEMA are involved.
"Our TDOT folks are going out there and taking photos and taking videos of these stations," Mark Nagi, regional communications officer for Region 1 (East and Upper east TN), said. "We have folks from all across the state that are doing their part to get these roads open as soon as possible."
Reid said as far as what is being prioritized, at this point it is driven by connectivity — not just within the state system — but working with locals to make sure those local roads are still in progress towards being open. It is a case by case, holistic outlook.
If you have questions about what is closed, you can visit the Smartway app or the Smartway website for consistent updates to closed roads and bridges.
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-Rebecca Schleicher
