Highway 64 Cleanup To Be Long and Expensive

They're not even ready to begin the cleanup on highway 64 after that incredible rockslide we showed you last night.

The area is still so unstable that TDOT is keeping away the contractors who will eventually cleanup it up.

Our Bill Mitchell and Allen Fairbanks showed you just how dangerous it was yesterday.

They returned today for a look at what's next.

TDOT sent it's top managers to the site today and they were all trying to get a handle on big a job this road-block will be.

They know getting it fixed is urgent because there's really no easy way for traffic to move between Tennessee and North Carolina except on Highway 64..

They know this job will be expensive.

Today we also got a chance to talk with the young geologist who probably saves many lives yesterday.

It only took a few seconds, but the result of this massive rock and dirt slide in the Ocoee gorge will inconvenience thousands of people for weeks.

JULIE OAKS, TDOT SPOKESWOMAN "Its going to be closed until we feel its safe enough to reopen...that's the real answer, safety is the number one priority."

It turns out the slide is 14-thousand cubit yards of material. That's about 1400 dump trucks full.

TDOT doesn't do construction work, of course, it contracts the work out to private companies.

But TDOT says the site isn't stable enough yet to invite contractors to come take a look.

JULIE OAKS "We have some unstable material we believe up at the top..some large boulders."

TDOT Geologist Vanessa Bateman from Nashville, was summoned to the site after the first slide early yesterday. But when she arrived just before noon..what she found something that was more serious than what she expected---popping sounds coming from the rock face.

VANESSA BATEMAN, TDOT GEOLOGIST "We didn't just hear it once..wait a little bit of time..you'd hear it again..and that was the thing that really said..wait a minute, we've got a major problem up on this slope."

Ms. Bateman quickly advised everyone, TDOT managers, work crews and even this News 12 crew , to move away. Her quick work likely saved a few lives.

Meanwhile, she says Allen Fairbanks' video was spectacular.

VANESSA BATEMAN "Seeing the video of the slide was incredible..actually being able to watch that over and over again..you don't appreciate just how fast an 18 wheeler size rock can move down the slope until you see it on tape..and watch it again and again."

TDOT says it'll probably be about 3 weeks clearing the roadway.

Highway 64 is one of the two major routes from Tennessee to North Carolina.

The seriousness of this road-block may revive talk of a Corridor K by-pass.

But TDOT officials told us today it's not on the table now, and that it will be years and a billion dollar price tag if it does happen.