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| Just after the turn
of the 20th century, the first major realignment and modernization of
the Wilderness Road over Cumberland Gap was initiated. Under the umbrella
of the United States Department of Agriculture, the Office of Public Roads
– created in 1893 and a precursor to the present Federal Highway Administration
– had charge of the project. The idea was to demonstrate the efficacy of improved road building techniques using a macadamized surface which would be smooth and water-resistant. The Office of Public Roads called such roads "object |
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lesson roads," and hoped that by constructing them in many locales they would quickly find favor and be adopted nationwide. For the residents of the Cumberland Gap area the beginning
of what became a 2½-mile roadbed over Cumberland Mountain came
with the arrival of Fay McClure, project supervisor and "road expert."
McClure traveled to the area from a nearby Tennessee project in February
1907, for the purpose of assessing the nature of the work and estimating
the costs. |
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| After spending time in the field, he wrote,
"The work will be a difficult piece of construction, as a considerable
portion will be side hill work, along a shelf on the side of the mountain
…," a reference to the area along present highway 25E in Virginia. Local
counties subscribed money to pay the costs in proportion to the road distances
as follows:
Bell County, Kentucky......................................5,000
feet
In actuality, the final distance came to 13,200 feet (2.5 miles), with a surfaced width of 14 feet made of crushed, compacted, and rolled limestone. Final costs totaled $7,220.72 per mile. |
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| Project Director McClure identified the road
construction problems at the Gap in terms very similar to his 18th and
19th century counterparts when he wrote, "For 150 years the road has been
badly needed, so if we solve the problems satisfactorily, it will bring
great credit to the office." He went on to say that the maximum grade would
be 8 percent as the steep grade on the Kentucky side needed to be reduced;
to accomplish this McClure increased the road distance to "…about 1,400
feet … on much better ground." Most of the distance came as a result of
road loops along contour lines farther up watercourses where bridging was
easier.
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| Work began on the project in July of 1907 and consumed some 15 months before completion in October 1908. An inspection report of June 1910 detailed its condition, noting maintenance in the intervening months after it opened for traffic, and the impact it had on the nearby communities, especially road building methods and mileage in Middlesboro. The project did make available, for the first time, a very good road over Cumberland Mountain, and taught an "object lesson" about improved road construction in the region. | |
