06-03-2006, 11:28 AM
The Associated Press and Seattle Times staff
The main road to Yosemite National Park in California is closed after a rock slide buried it under 300-foot -deep pile of debris, and park officials say it's unclear when it will reopen.
No one was injured in the slide about 12 miles west of the park on Highway 140, but rocks continued to fall Thursday, preventing crews from beginning to remove an estimated 250-300 tons of debris, fire officials said. It was not clear when the road would reopen ââ¬â park officials said it's closed indefinitely ââ¬â but alternative roadways into the park are available and roads within the park's main Yosemite Valley are open
"It looks like the mountain moved right over the road," said Carrie Smith of the California Highway Patrol, who reviewed pictures of the slide. "It looks like there should be a tunnel there, but there's not."
The slide began as a trickle of rocks April 29 and forced sporadic road closures last month. The road reopened last week, but this week intensity of the slide increased.
The slide, which is 600 feet long, 600 feet wide and 300 feet deep, threatened to topple two power line towers carrying 72,000 volts of electricity to the town of El Portal and the park, said Mariposa County Fire Chief Blaine Shultz. Motorists can use alternate routes to enter the park. They include Highway 120 which, like the closed road, enters the west side of the park. Highway 41 enters Yosemite from the south (via Fresno). Much of the Tioga Road (Highway 120) which enters from the east and traverses the park is still closed because of heavy snow.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/tr...ite02.html
The main road to Yosemite National Park in California is closed after a rock slide buried it under 300-foot -deep pile of debris, and park officials say it's unclear when it will reopen.
No one was injured in the slide about 12 miles west of the park on Highway 140, but rocks continued to fall Thursday, preventing crews from beginning to remove an estimated 250-300 tons of debris, fire officials said. It was not clear when the road would reopen ââ¬â park officials said it's closed indefinitely ââ¬â but alternative roadways into the park are available and roads within the park's main Yosemite Valley are open
"It looks like the mountain moved right over the road," said Carrie Smith of the California Highway Patrol, who reviewed pictures of the slide. "It looks like there should be a tunnel there, but there's not."
The slide began as a trickle of rocks April 29 and forced sporadic road closures last month. The road reopened last week, but this week intensity of the slide increased.
The slide, which is 600 feet long, 600 feet wide and 300 feet deep, threatened to topple two power line towers carrying 72,000 volts of electricity to the town of El Portal and the park, said Mariposa County Fire Chief Blaine Shultz. Motorists can use alternate routes to enter the park. They include Highway 120 which, like the closed road, enters the west side of the park. Highway 41 enters Yosemite from the south (via Fresno). Much of the Tioga Road (Highway 120) which enters from the east and traverses the park is still closed because of heavy snow.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/tr...ite02.html