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Welcome To PIKEVILLE, PIKE COUNTY, KENTUCKY
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The Pikeville Cut-Through Project
Pikeville, the county seat of Pike County is best known for the Pikeville Cut-Through Project. The Pikeville Cut-Through project before the final phases of the project which involved completition of highway interchanges on both ends of the Cut-Through and the construction of Hambley Boulevard. The Cut-Through freed Pikeville from the floods and the other restrictions that plague so many other Eastern Kentucky counties. The Pikeville Cut-Through project offically began in November 1973 and was completed 14 years later at a cost of $80 million dollars. The project created a 3/4 mile long channel through Peach Orchard Mountain, in order to provide a path for the railroad tracks, the Levisa Fork of the Big Sandy River, and U.S. Highways 23, 460, 119 and KY 80. A total of 18 million cubic yards of earth were moved during the project which filled the empty riverbed, creating 400 acres of usable land for the city's expansion. The Pikeville Cut-Through is an engineering marvel and a unique example of cooperation among agencies on a federal, state and local level. It is one of the country's largest and most spectacular engineering feats. The cut itself is over 1300 feet wide, 3700 feet long and 523 feet deep. The New York Times called it "the eighth wonder of the world."
A scenic view of the Pikeville Cut-Through after the completion of the relocation of the roads, highway, railroad, and river.
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