The Pikeville Cut-Through is a

rock cut Drilling and blasting is the controlled use of explosives and other methods, such as gas pressure blasting pyrotechnics, to break rock for excavation. It is practiced most often in mining, quarrying and civil engineering such as dam, tunnel o ...

in Pikeville,

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, created by the

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers , colors = , anniversaries = 16 June (Organization Day) , battles = , battles_label = Wars , website = , commander1 = ...

, through which passes a four-lane

divided highway A dual carriageway ( BE) or divided highway ( AE) is a class of highway with carriageways for traffic travelling in opposite directions separated by a central reservation (BrE) or median (AmE). Roads with two or more carriageways which are ...

(

Corridor B The Appalachian Development Highway System (ADHS) is a series of highway corridors in the Appalachia region of the eastern United States. The routes are designed as local and regional routes for improving economic development in the historica ...

, numbered as U.S. Route 23 (US 23), US 119, US 460, and

KY 80 Kentucky Route 80 (KY 80) is a state highway in the southern part of the U.S. state of Kentucky. The route originates on the state's western border at Columbus in Hickman County and stretches across the southern portion of the state, ...

), a railroad line (

CSX CSX Transportation , known colloquially as simply CSX, is a Class I freight railroad operating in the Eastern United States and the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. The railroad operates approximately 21,000 route miles () of track. ...

' Big Sandy Subdivision), and the

Levisa Fork of the Big Sandy River The Levisa Fork (also known as the Levisa Fork River or the Levisa Fork of the Big Sandy River) is a tributary of the Big Sandy River, approximately long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe Nati ...

. It is one of the largest

civil engineering Civil engineering is a professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including public works such as roads, bridges, canals, dams, airports, sewage ...

projects in the

western hemisphere The Western Hemisphere is the half of the planet Earth that lies west of the prime meridian (which crosses Greenwich, London, United Kingdom) and east of the antimeridian. The other half is called the Eastern Hemisphere. Politically, the term We ...

, moving nearly of soil and rock, compared to the

Big Dig The Central Artery/Tunnel Project (CA/T Project), commonly known as the Big Dig, was a megaproject in Boston that rerouted the Central Artery of Interstate 93 (I-93), the chief highway through the heart of the city, into the 1.5-mile (2.4& ...

() and the

Panama Canal The Panama Canal ( es, Canal de Panamá, link=no) is an artificial waterway in Panama that connects the Atlantic Ocean with the Pacific Ocean and divides North and South America. The canal cuts across the Isthmus of Panama and is a conduit ...

().Flow Diversion-Pikeville Cut-Through

University of Kentucky The University of Kentucky (UK, UKY, or U of K) is a Public University, public Land-grant University, land-grant research university in Lexington, Kentucky. Founded in 1865 by John Bryan Bowman as the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Kentu ...

. Retrieved on 2010-11-22. Dr. William Hambley, who served as mayor of Pikeville for 29 years, Robert H. Holcomb, Chamber of Commerce president, and Henry Stratton, local attorney, spearheaded the project. Pikeville Cut-Through from south

The Pikeville Cut-Through is wide, long, and is deep.Maddox, Connie. The Pikeville Cut-Through Project (brochure). Pikeville-Pike County Tourism. Retrieved on 2010-06-17 The project was completed in 1987 following 14 years of work at a cost of $77.6 million ($ in dollars). Retrieved on 2010-06-17

Purpose

The project was initially envisioned by Pikeville native Dr. William Hambley in 1960.Pikeville "Cut-Thru Project"
Kentucky Tourism. Retrieved on 2010-06-17 He wanted to relocate the railbed because he wanted to eliminate the dust that came from the

coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal is formed when dea ...

hauling trains that passed through the city daily. In 1963, Pikeville received a $38,000 federal

grant Grant or Grants may refer to: Places *Grant County (disambiguation) Australia * Grant, Queensland, a locality in the Barcaldine Region, Queensland, Australia United Kingdom *Castle Grant United States * Grant, Alabama *Grant, Inyo County, C ...

for a railroad relocation feasibility study and was named a Model City by the recently formed Model Cities Agency, generating even more funding. By 1965, his plan had further developed to accommodate Corridor B of the

Appalachian Development Highway System The Appalachian Development Highway System (ADHS) is a series of highway corridors in the Appalachia region of the eastern United States. The routes are designed as local and regional routes for improving economic development in the historical ...

, assuring the construction of the Pikeville Cut-Through.The Pikeville Cut-Through Project
Pike County, Kentucky Chamber of Commerce. Retrieved on 2010-06-17 It was also decided to relocate the

Levisa Fork The Levisa Fork (also known as the Levisa Fork River or the Levisa Fork of the Big Sandy River) is a tributary of the Big Sandy River, approximately long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe Nati ...

of the Big Sandy River, which then snaked through the downtown area, to eliminate almost yearly flooding. The river bed then was to be reclaimed, significantly increasing the available space for development within the city.

Construction

The project was constructed in four phases by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers between November 26, 1973, and October 2, 1987. Phase I of construction began on November 26, 1973. By the end of Phase I, nearly of rock were blasted from Peach Orchard Mountain to create a channel for the road, railroad, and river. The cost of phase I at completion was $17,250,000. Phase II of construction began on March 4, 1980. During this phase the coal tipples and

railroad tracks A railway track (British English and UIC terminology) or railroad track (American English), also known as permanent way or simply track, is the structure on a railway or railroad consisting of the rails, fasteners, railroad ties (sleepers, ...

were removed from downtown Pikeville, a bridge was constructed across the cut, the river was rerouted, and the former

riverbed A stream bed or streambed is the bottom of a stream or river (bathymetry) or the physical confine of the normal water flow ( channel). The lateral confines or channel margins are known as the stream banks or river banks, during all but flood ...

was filled. of soil was moved to create of available land in downtown at a cost of $22,200,000. Phase III and IV of construction began on March 15, 1983. The final stages consisted of: the construction of the downtown

interchanges Interchange may refer to: Transport * Interchange (road), a collection of ramps, exits, and entrances between two or more highways * Interchange (freight rail), the transfer of freight cars between railroad companies * Interchange station, a rai ...

and

flood wall A flood wall (or floodwall) is a primarily vertical artificial barrier designed to temporarily contain the waters of a river or other waterway which may rise to unusual levels during seasonal or extreme weather events. Flood walls are mainly u ...

s, another new bridge, and the construction of Hambley Boulevard atop the former railbed – a lasting tribute to William Hambley. These two phases created an additional of downtown property at a cost of $19,700,000. The project was dedicated on October 2, 1987.

References

External links

Tourism information
{{coord, 37.47527, N, 82.53891, W, source:placeopedia, display=title Transportation in Pike County, Kentucky Tourist attractions in Pike County, Kentucky Transport infrastructure completed in 1987 Cuts (earthmoving) U.S. Route 23 Kentucky Route 80 1987 establishments in Kentucky Pikeville, Kentucky