Photo courtesy of ALDOT
Crews repairing the roadway on SR-41 after the landslide.
The Alabama Department of Transportation (ALDOT) is set to begin a repair project on state Highway 41 in the southwestern part of the state following a significant landslide in 2023.
Initial work at the site got under way in June, according to the agency, with the bulk of the road rehabilitation set to start Sept. 9 along Ala. 41 at milepost 65.4, between the communities of Hybart and Franklin in Monroe County, northeast of Mobile.
The landslide, which occurred last fall after a period of heavy rainfall, severely impacted the roadway, necessitating immediate traffic restrictions. Since then, the affected section of Ala. 41 has been reduced to a single lane, causing considerable inconvenience for folks living and working in the area and raising safety concerns for commuters and residents alike.
To facilitate the next phase of repairs, traffic is to be detoured to the east of the repair site via nearby Ala. 21/47 and Ala. 265 when the new phase of repairs begins. The detour is expected to remain in place until Nov. 11.
Crews will be working to stabilize the landslide-affected area and restore the roadway to full operational capacity as quickly as possible, ALDOT said.
Interstate 59 Northbound Being Upgraded Near Georgia Line
In the far northeastern part of Alabama, Wiregrass Construction, based in Dothan, closed a portion of Interstate 59 northbound on Sept. 3 in DeKalb County near the Georgia state line for a $41 million reconstruction project.
The freeway work is designed to upgrade the I-59 road surface, including pavement removal, grading, drainage and pavement and traffic striping, from north of Ala. 40/117 in Hammondville to the Georgia border.
ALDOT noted that northbound traffic will transition to one lane of the southbound roadway via a crossover about 5 mi. north of Hammondville. Concrete barriers will separate single lanes of northbound and southbound traffic for 4.5 mi. while construction is under way. Traffic will return to the northbound roadway at the state line.
Wiregrass is reconstructing a few miles of roadway south of the current work area in a later portion of the project. In all, the two-phase effort will demolish and replace 8 mi. of I-59 northbound.
In preparation for the work, the contractor made repairs and improvements to the southbound portion of the interstate and removed the most deteriorated concrete slabs from that side of the roadway in advance of the closure of northbound I-59. In addition, Wiregrass crews rehabilitated many of the underlying concrete slabs for future use.
The project is scheduled for completion in late 2026, according to ALDOT.
Among the closures within the work zone are the northbound on- and off-ramps at I-59's Exit 239/Dekalb County Road 140 at Sulphur Springs.
In late 2020, ALDOT began reconstructing parts of the freeway in DeKalb County and northern Etowah County due to its age and the deterioration of the original concrete roadway.
The current project is the fourth one started on the interstate in this area in four years. In total, the state transportation agency noted the cost of the I-59 rehabilitation has been approximately $150 million.
Interstate 59 northbound drivers may encounter another traffic shift between Fort Payne and Hammondville, according to ALDOT.
A.G. Peltz Group, a paving contractor from Ironton, Ala., opened the northern part of its $40.8 million, 8-mi. project to traffic in July, before beginning work on replacing the southern section of I-59 in August.
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