Crews are showing a behind-the-scenes look at the ongoing work to rebuild Interstate 40 more than a year after Hurricane Helene.
More than 100 lives were lost in North Carolina in the severe flooding in September 2024 when Helene tore apart the interstate in multiple locations. Parts of I-40 have already opened, but the North Carolina Department of Transportation estimates the road won't fully reopen near the Tennessee line for a couple of years.
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The North Carolina Department of Transportation shared a video on Facebook showing the process to rebuild I-40, which involves removing blasted rock from a borrow site, loading it into an off-road truck and transporting it across a bridge over the Pigeon River.
The rock is then crushed so it can be made into a high-strength concrete mix, loaded into another off-road truck and transported to the project site.
"From the borrow site to the crusher, into the batch plant, and back onto I-40 — this is how rock becomes roadway in the Pigeon River Gorge," the NCDOT wrote. "Sometimes this entire journey happens in a single day. See how it all comes together."
"Depending on the stockpile and how fast you need the material, the rock can go from the borrow site to the project as final concrete in a day, or it can be stockpiled for continuous use," explained NCDOT resident engineer Blake Soblesky.
Fully repairing I-40 will cost about a $1 billion, according to the state.
A recent WRAL Documentary explores the full recovery efforts after Helene. Watch Helene: What We Lost, What We Found here or on the WRAL YouTube page.
