Elkmont Vehicle bridge during construction by the Civilian Conservation Corps, ca. 1934 (GRSM)

DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION OF GREAT SMOKY MOUNTAINS ROADS & BRIDGES

Thousand of years of geological change and erosion have shaped the Great Smoky Mountains, which are characterized by high mountain peaks, steep hillsides, deep river valleys, and fertile coves. This difficult terrain and underlying bedrock presented numerous challenges for the designer of the roads in Great Smoky Mountains National Park. J. Ross Eakin, the park's first Superintendent, once wrote, "to secure good [road] alignment along our mountain sides will require tremendous cuts and fills, "thereby creating" a terrible scar on the roadsides.

Drawing of the construction stages used to build the Elkmont Vehicle Bridge.

Attempting to avoid as much scarring as possible, designers like Charles E. Peterson employed the use of tunnels, bridges, and retaining and revetment walls. Tunnels cut through ridges, bridges spanned the numerous streams and rivers, revetment and retaining walls were constructed to hold back fill and prevent stream erosion and the revegetation of roadsides controlled erosion and reduced visible road scars. Using all of these methods, designers were able to create some of the most pleasurable and scenic roads in the national park system.

(from left) Superintendent J. Ross Eakin, Arthur P. Miller, Charles E. Peterson, O.G. Taylor, and John Needhamn on a survey of the park's boundary, 1931 (GRSM)

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