Pikeville Cut-Through — Pikeville, Kentucky

The Pikeville Cut-Through is a massive civil engineering project in Pikeville, Kentucky, sometimes called the “eighth wonder of the world” by locals. Completed over several decades starting in the 1970s, the project rerouted the Levisa Fork of the Big Sandy River and carved through Peach Orchard Mountain to redirect U.S. Route 23, eliminating chronic flooding that had plagued the town.

Pikeville sits along the U.S. 23 Country Music Highway and is near the birthplace of Patty Loveless (in Pikeville itself) and Dwight Yoakam (from nearby Pikeville area). The Cut-Through site features overlooks, walking trails, sports courts, and river access. For visitors driving the Country Music Highway, it’s a striking stop that illustrates the scale of the Appalachian landscape and the engineering ambitions of the communities along the route.