Erosion closes Scenic Highway

By Kem E. Morgan

The Chattanooga Times: July 7, 1989.  Front page.

A portion of Highway 148, commonly called Scenic Highway, appears to be sliding down the side of Lookout Mountain as continuing rainfall erodes the subsurface, a state engineer said Thursday.  The section of the road with the most damage is about halfway up the mountain and has been closed.

Large cracks and buckles were found in the roadbed Thursday morning near the Lookout Mountain Gift Shop.  Cracks continued to widen in the afternoon as more rain fell.  The roadbed appeared to be slipping, said state engineer Glen Paschal.

The whole area through here, starting at the (mountain) top, where the slide started, all the way down through here (where the roadway is closed) is just in a constant movement,” he said.  “It is moving and it is taking the road with it.”

Decisions on how to repair the highway and when it may reopen will not be made until geologists evaluate the terrain, Paschal said.  It could remain closed for several months, he said.

Traffic up and down the mountain is rerouted via Sanders Road and Ochs Highway.    

See Our Fragile Mountain by Peggy Laney in OPINION and “Repairs To Close Scenic Highway” in ARTICLES.