GATLINBURG, Tenn. (AP) — A landslide that sent a section of Newfound Gap road down a Smoky Mountains slope will cost nearly $4 million to repair. The highway should be open by summer.

The National Park Service announced the Federal Highway Administration awarded the $3,989,890 construction contract to Phillips & Jordan, Inc. of Robinsville, NC. The stated completion date is May 15. Work will begin immediately.

There are, however, incentives to finish the project earlier. The National Park Service and the Eastern Band of the Cherokee Indian will pay $18,000 per day, up to a maximum of $500,000, if the work is completed before May 15. The contract also specifies a fine to the contractor of the same amount for each day past May 15.

Heavy rain in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park resulted in a 200-foot section of the road — also known as U.S. 441 — sliding down the mountain on Jan. 16.

Park visitors entering on the Tennessee side can drive as far as Newfound Gap. Traffic from Cherokee, N.C., can go as far as the Collins Creek picnic area.

Park management listed above-normal precipitation and road closures in reporting this week that visits to the Smokies were off 3.5 percent from the five-year average for January.

The park also opened Clingman's Dome Road last weekend —six weeks earlier than planned — to draw tourists to the popular summit.