Tennessee Had to Turn Rail Cars Into Emergency Bridges

Normally hurricanes affect the coast, but Hurricane Helene in 2024 blew hundreds of miles inland, devastating the mountains of Tennessee and North Carolina. I travel to one town, Elk Mills, where fire stations, roads, and bridges were washed away, and how construction crews are working to fix it. Buy me tacos 😀🌮►   / roadguyrob   Ask a road question ►   / roadguyrob   ------------------------- Sources cited: ------------------------- "Hurricane Helene Recovery," Tennessee DOT. https://www.tn.gov/tdot/projects/proj... "Hurricane Helene I-40 Emergency Repair," Connect NCDOT. https://connect.ncdot.gov/letting/Pag... "NCDOT Selects Sites for Rock to Rebuild I-40," North Carolina DOT, press release. 3 Jun 2025. https://www.ncdot.gov/news/press-rele... 40-helene.aspx "Statement from Sheriff Fraley regarding flooding," Carter County Tennessee Sheriff's Office, post on Facebook. 29 Dec 2024.   / 989413113218677   "Rebuilding I-40 in Pigeon River Gorge will take 3 years and lots of rocks," The News & Observer, Stradling. 27 May 2025 https://www.newsobserver.com/news/sta... "New CAT 374 Hydraulic Excavator in North Carolina," Gregory Poole. https://www.gregorypoole.com/new-equi... ------------------------- Time sections: ------------------------- Hurricane Helene (0:00) Interstate 40 (1:27) Elk Mills (2:42) Losing Both Bridges (3:26) Bob's Semi-Truck Bridges (4:51) Not Sponsored (6:40) Five Sites (6:58) Replacing Giant Pipes (7:14) Fire Station vs. Bridge (8:29) MSE Wall (10:21) Disclaimer (12:39) Geotech 101 (12:52) Why It Matters (15:44)