HAYWOOD COUNTY, NC ( WLOS ) -- Nearly a year after Hurricane Helene ripped apart Interstate 40 through the Pigeon River Gorge, officials with the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) say the scale of the rebuild is unlike anything the state has ever attempted.

On Thursday, NCDOT engineers led reporters deep into the five-mile work zone to show the damage, progress and the long road ahead.

“This was kind of a once-in-a-career event,” said Wesley Grindstaff, Division 14 engineer, who has worked with NCDOT for 25 years. “This route is critical not just regionally but nationwide. For commerce, for the movement of goods, this highway has to be restored.”

Hurricane Helene washed away sections of up to two lanes between the Tennessee state line and mile marker 5 in Haywood Co

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