Road collapse at Teton Pass

[micropolitan guy]

Looks like it drops off on both sides and a huge berm was built to keep the roadpath level. What they need to do is go back to the base and eliminate the berm, having the road follow the natural landscape. The road will be hillier and curvier, but if they rebuild the berm, it'll likely fail again.

Another alternative is to build a bridge. That will take a few years, though.

If they build the road at ground level it will be completely buried in snow. The highway over some mountain passes in Wyoming close in late October or November and don't reopen until May (highway 130 between Centennial and Saratoga, for example).

 

[Inky_Wretch]

Good story from High Country News about the effect of the collapse on locals.

https://www.hcn.org/articles/when-a-landslide-blocks-your-commute/

 

[MileHigh]

 

[Slacker]

I'd never feel safe driving that road again.
But the commuters don't have much of a choice.
High anxiety at the pass twice a day, though. Yikes.

 

[TigerVols]

Of course the Feds and Mayor Pete had nothing to do with it. SMH.

 

[Della9250]

Of course the Feds and Mayor Pete had nothing to do with it. SMH.

They got $6 million last week. And then: WYDOT Director Darin Westby said it is only 20% of the $30 million (which is the total cost of the project) the state applied for, but Wyoming is eligible for the other 80% of funds as the rebuild project moves ahead

 

[swingline]

Wyoming, if you're listening, I need you to do something for me.

 

[DanOregon]

Is that a permanent solution? Or did they just use fill?

 

[Tarheel316]

Stretch of highway totally gone. Gonna create problems to the tourist industry, which some of the locals probably won't mind. Detour will add about 60+ miles to the commute for workers and tourists.

Massive chunk of Wyoming's Teton Pass crumbles; unclear how quickly the road can be rebuilt (msn.com)

Gov. Mark Gordon signed an executive order declaring an emergency, which his office said would help the state access additional resources from the Federal Highway Administration to begin repair work.

Of course now they want help from the Federal government. All three of Wyoming's elected federal officials voted against the Infrastructure Bill.

It's different when they need it.

 

[Twirling Time]

Of course the Feds and Mayor Pete had nothing to do with it. SMH.

If DOT did provide funds, we need to know about it.

That was some amazing work. A few dozen driven steel beams to stabilize the roadway would've been fabulous. Otherwise, as I said, it'll fail again.

 

[maumann]

CalTrans had the Bay Bridge re-opened within six weeks of the Loma Prieta earthquake. I know the I-85 viaduct fire in Atlanta (and maybe I-95 near Philly) were fixed quickly as well. Interesting how fast things get done when you have the money and manpower to throw all your resources at a problem.

As to @Twirling Time's question, I don't see anything in the AP story about how they shored up the site. Only that they tightened the radius of the turn and increased the grade, requiring traffic to slow in that area. But without knowing exactly what the traffic engineers did to stabilize that stretch, I wouldn't want to be behind a bunch of logging trucks or dumptrucks.

 

[Slacker]

I'd much rather see both of these photos shot from exactly the same location, height and angle.

Golly, if only we could have some kind of airborne camera we could use for that kind of precision work.