Landslide Closes Bachman Tunnels

Early Wednesday evening, a landslide caused by heavy rains has closed the Bachman Tunnels on Ringgold Road leading in and out of East Ridge.

Officials said the landslide was reported by an ambulance crew just before 7 p.m. East Ridge Fire Chief Mike Williams said he immediately came to the scene and closed the tunnels down.

Chief Williams said he had never scene a landslide of this nature in this area in his career.

Chief Williams said that Tennessee Department of Transportation officials have been called to the scene to evaluate the situation. There is no timetable, currently, when the the main artery in and out of East Ridge may be reopened.

Chief Williams said officials are monitoring area roadways for flooding. The usual areas, near Camp Jordan Park and Springvale Road, are of particular concern.

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.