WBIR TV is reporting that the Cades Cove Loop is being repaved in a new way.The $6.7 million contract calls for a more efficient, cheaper and environmentally friendly way of repaving a road. The method called "full-depth reclamation with cement" is so new to Tennessee that road builders from across the South came to the Cove to observe the process.
The process reuses all of the existing road material instead of hauling more rock in.
The entire 11-mile Cades Cove Loop Road has been ground up and spread back down. Dry cement will be spread over the surface, and water will be poured on. Then a road milling machine mixes it and lays it back down as a fresh base layer.
The next steps: smooth it out, let it harden for a week, and then lay down 3 1/2 inches of asphalt.
The new road base will be harder than using crushed stone and require much less asphalt on top. That means fewer truck trips to the Cove.
"The process is quicker because they're not hauling as much material," said GSMNP Deputy Superintendent Kevin Fitzgerald. "They're using the material on the ground rather than bringing truckloads in. That does speed it up."
The contract calls for the project to be completed by May 21.
Jeff
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