Bachman Tunnels Reopened

According to East Ridge Fire Chief Mike Williams, both lanes of the Bachman Tunnels were reopened early Friday evening.

The tunnels, which link East Ridge with Chattanooga via Ringgold Road, were closed early Wednesday evening after a landslide caused by heavy rains blocked the Westbound lanes headed out of East Ridge.

At the time, officials said engineers with the Tennessee Department of Transportation would have to assess the stability of the slopes and retaining walls on the East side of the tunnels for the safety of the motoring public.

Early Thursday TDOT officials were onsite clearing debris and inspecting the stability of the slope leading into the tunnel.

On Thursday afternoon officials with TDOT had no timetable when the tunnels might reopen.

About Dick Cook

Dick Cook has lived in East Ridge since the Kennedy Administration when his parents bought a house on Marietta Street. Dick graduated from ERHS in 1976 before going on to the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga where he studied Political Science. Dick worked for the Chattanooga Free-Press and the Chattanooga Times Free Press for 22 years. Free-Press Sports Editor Roy Exum plucked him out of production in 1989 and gave him a job as a sports reporter. Dick covered everything from prep sports to the whitewater events on the Ocoee River for the 1996 Olympics. When Chattanooga's two paper's merged, he became the Crime Reporter covering both the Chattanooga Police and Fire Departments. He was among reporters who were honored by the Associated Press for the TFP's coverage of the 2002 fog-shrouded crash on I-75 in Catoosa County, Dick and his wife, Cathy, live on Marlboro Avenue where they are seen frequently chasing around their three grandsons.