NORTH CAROLINA (WATE) — It's been almost a year since Hurricane Helene wiped out part of I-40 at the Tennessee-North Carolina state line. 6 News joined North Carolina Department of Transportation engineers for an up-close look at some of the more than 300 construction team members working on the monumental repair job.

So far, they've built 128,000 square feet of soil nail walls designed to build up the interstate, making it safe enough to keep one lane of I-40 eastbound open. Next comes the permanent fix, using new technology typically used in building huge dams, not roads. In some areas, roller-compacted concrete walls will be up to 30 feet thick and up to 70 feet tall. All of this, literally on the banks of the Pigeon River Gorge. • Soil nail walls under I-40 (WATE) • Lori Tucker wi

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