Teton Pass road has ‘catastrophically failed’
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JACKSON, Wyoming — After two days with a mudslide and landslide, Wyoming State Highway 22 over Teton Pass has “catastrophically failed” and is expected to be closed for the long-term, according to the Wyoming Department of Transportation.
On Thursday, the road was temporarily closed after eight inch cracks developed in the roadway at milepost 12.8.
RELATED | Teton Pass has reopened; road damage patched by crews
Department crews and a contracted team from Evans Construction started working in the region to “construct a detour around the damage, but the landslide continued to move, taking out the whole road,” the department reports.
On Friday, due to “continued movement, the crews had been working to remove asphalt from the roadway in an effort to minimize the weight on the unstable ground and reduce the driving force pushing the movement,” according to the department.
They intended to reconfigure the road closer to the mountain “in shoe fly detour configuration,” prior to the roadway’s total failure.
No crew members were injured or equipment damaged in the landslide.
The Wyoming Department of Transportation also reported Saturday morning that Friday’s “mudslide at milepost 15 on Teton Pass, has breached the roadway with mud and debris, overwhelming the channeled drainage ditch and culvert.”
RELATED | Teton Pass closed for second time in two days after mudslide
Dispatched crews, with assistance from the Idaho Department of Transportation, continued to remove mud and debris Saturday morning at that location, the department reported.
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