The Tennessee Department of Transportation opened up the all-new State Route 107 bridge across the Nolichucky River in Greene County today after it was destroyed by Hurricane Helene in September. The bridge took 238 days to build, which TDOT says is the fastest project completion time in the department’s history.
The re-opening of this nearly 600 foot long highway bridge is a major milestone for this community, which experienced some of the worst of the flooding wrought by Hurricane Helene. In some parts of the river, the flooding was over 60 feet high. It destroyed four bridges and damaged three others, forcing them to close.
The loss of the Kinser Bridge, named after local war hero Elbert Kinser, dealt a heavy blow to the county. Over 15,000 cars and trucks crossed it each and every day. It connected the relatively urban town of Greeneville to the rural communities along the southern bank of the river. When it was destroyed, it effectively cut the county in two.
“There was an audible gasp in the 911-center when this thing fell,” said Greene County Mayor Kevin Morrison. “We couldn’t believe it.”
Kim Phillips and her family live on the south side of the bridge. Phillips and her daughter were separated from her husband soon after the bridge collapsed.
“We crossed the river about 20 minutes before it actually collapsed,” Phillips said. “I was just gonna run to Walmart – which is about three miles – and then come home. Then my husband called and said, ‘you can’t come home.’”
After safety inspections were conducted, all of the traffic had to be re-routed to the Asheville Highway bridge over 10 miles away along a country road. Sometimes, that detour could take more than 30 minutes. Now, it will take just five minutes to get into town.
“I’m definitely excited to have it back open,” Phillips said.
TDOT expedited the construction of a replacement bridge, securing a $30 million contract with the Kiewit Corporation less than two days after the old bridge was destroyed.
It’s the first project to take advantage of the Tennessee Transportation Modernization Act, which was signed into law two years ago. It allows construction of bridges to coincide with the permitting and design process, slashing project completion times.
“That's allowed us to make a lot of these repairs a lot quicker than they would have been previously,” said Mark Nagi, spokesman for TDOT. “Case in point: The Highway 107 bridge.”
Morrison says it’s a huge morale booster for Greene County residents.
“To have this reconstructed in 238 days is a great shot in the arm of enthusiasm and confidence,” Morrison said. “This is a testament to the resilience and the hope that it provides to the community going forward.”
TDOT says that 49 different bridges and roads were damaged or destroyed by Helene in September. With Friday’s opening of the Kinser Bridge, only four projects remain. And Nagi says most of them will be complete by the end of the year, with one exception: Interstate 40.
“We’re definitely seeing a ton of progress,” Nagi said. “We're hopeful that all those roadways on our side of the state line will be reopened by the end of the calendar year. But … there were seven separate sections on I-40 that saw extreme damage. So that is a massive undertaking to get the interstate back to back to normalcy.”
Helene caused $510 million worth of damage to state roads and bridges in Tennessee. TDOT has requested reimbursement from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and has to-date received $102 million.
