The Unofficial
I-26 Construction
Madison County
North Carolina
Pages

The A-10BB project, which runs from NC 213 in Mars Hill to US 19, has shifted traffic onto a portion of the new route. Signs are in place, the guardrail is installed, and it looks to be only a matter of a few weeks before this section is completely open to traffic. The service road (what was once US 23) is in operation.

A-10C

The A-10C project, which runs from US 19 to Laurel Creek Road, is well under construction.

Gilbert Southern has begun scaling down their operations in advance of the winter weather, but are still working on bridges, undercut removal along Sprinkle Creek, and fill placement south of Jarvis Road.

The Higgins Branch Road bridges are having their decks poured now. The pouring of concrete underneath them is completed, and Higgins Branch Road itself has been paved but not striped. The view of these bridges from US 23 is incredible; US 23 is lower than they are and the superelevation on the bridges away from the highway means the entire support structure is visible. I have a photo online showing this view.

North Main Street (SR 1609) has been relocated over to Higgins Branch Road, and the fill over the original route for this street has begun. The road looked to be closed while I was there; no stripes were in place and workers were still setting the guardrail along the new route. It should be open very soon, though.

The fills between North Main Street and Higgins Branch Road are very high now. Seen from US 23, they appear to be about 50' high, so they are nearing completion. Grass is finally starting to sprout on these fill slopes, probably due to the recent rains that have fallen in the area.

Between Higgins Branch Road and Jarvis Road, it didn't look like much had changed since October. The western cut slopes were starting to take shape more and more as relocated Jarvis Road begins to take shape. The material for the fills south of Higgins Branch Road appears to be coming out of this area.

North of Jarvis Road, earthmoving operations still continue all the way up to Buckner Gap. The undercut removal is still going on, slowed down now as the rains get more frequent. A good haul road all the way down to north of Jarvis Road is completed, so Gilbert Southern should continue to move material this winter without too much trouble. Many of the fills in this area, although nowhere near completion, have at least had most of the undercut replaced underneath them with stone. This will let the contractor to haul material over them without any problems.

The grading for the rest area on Waste Area #1 has begun. The waste area is now about 15' higher than the interstate alignment, and the rest area location will be graded a bit higher than that. Over the next few months, the rest area parking lots, building locations, ramps and access roads will start taking shape.

Buckner Gap is being cut down daily. The huge trackhoe was on top of the Gap while I was there removing the earth (called overburden) on top of the solid rock below. Big 150 ton trucks then hauled it down to the fill areas. The other cut just to the south of Buckner Gap was being drilled for blasting in solid rock. This cut is already down about 200' in places, but still has to be cut down at least 200' more before they reach the finished grade.

North of Buckner Gap, the Bear Branch Road interchange hasn't been worked on this summer. The bridge on Bear Branch Road has its superstructure completed, and the beams are the next step.

The northbound lane scenic overlook will be relocated to a different place than is shown on the A-10C location map. As a result of a meeting held at the site in October, the overlook is going to be moved south to a point opposite the southernmost truck escape ramp. The view of Mt. Mitchell, the Black Mountains and the Blue Ridge Parkway is very good from this site, and the terrain allows the overlook to be constructed very easily.

A-10D

This project, which runs from Laurel Creek Road up to the Tennessee State Line, has had a lot of work this summer. All the construction is still limited to the southern half of the project.

The Laurel Creek Bridge footings are being excavated and poured for the internal supports and columns. One of the footings is right next to Laurel Creek Road, and the concrete has been poured. No column work has begun yet, though. The northern interior endbent has been poured and the retaining walls uphill of it have been constructed. The column work might start this year, but again that depends on the weather.

Waste Area #1 is about a mile north of the Laurel Creek Bridge. The 60" structural plate pipe main line in the is in place now, and the connector pipes are being installed. Large concrete support structures around the joints have been poured at at least one point; a photo of this structure will be put online once I get it processed.

A large cut just south of Waste Area #1 is well underway. The contractor has cut down about 200' and has reached solid rock. The height of this cut will be the largest one on the entire construction route; about 500' from the top of the cut down to the roadbed. From the top of the cut one can see from Buckner Gap on A-10C to Sams' Gap at the Tennessee State Line, a distance of about 5 miles.