Here's the headline from yesterday on the WBIR website. The construction company received half million for finishing 30 days early.
Newfound Gap Rd. reopened a month ahead of schedule
Newfound Gap Road (U.S. 441) through the Great Smoky Mountains National Park is reopening a month ahead of schedule.
A huge landslide took out the road near mile marker 22 between Collins Creek and Webb Overlook on January 16. Crews have been working ever since to repair the damage and reopen the road, which is the quickest route from Gatlinburg to Cherokee.
Park officials expected the road to reopen by May 15, but it was back open by 10 am on April 15. Crews from contractor Phillips-Jordan worked 24 hours a day in the last few weeks, and finished the paving and striping of the road over the weekend.
Workers moved 50,000 cubic yards of crushed rocks to better support the road surface, and added drainage, to hopefully prevent this from happening in the future.
The Park Service and the Eastern Band of the Cherokee offered the contractor $18,000 per day for each day of completion prior to May 15, with a maximum of $500,000.
Officials are still calculating the total costs, but it was close to $5 million dollars.