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UPDATE: Portion Of Going-to-the-Sun Road At Glacier National Park Closed By Mudslides

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Published Date

July 18, 2012

Road crews spent all day Wednesday working to clear debris from mud and rock slides that came down on the Going-to-the-Sun Road on Tuesday. Park officials hoped to have the entire Sun Road reopened by Thursday evening. These shots are along the Big Bend. NPS photos by David Restivo.

Editor's note: This adds the latest details on the rock and mudslides, along with two photos.

Glacier National Park officials are predicting that the entire Going-to-the-Sun Road, which was buried in places by a number of mud-and-rock slides on Tuesday, will be open for end-to-end travel by Thursday evening.

Officials estimated Wednesday that upwards of 900 cubic yards of material remained on the Sun Road near Big Bend as a result of rock and mud slides the day before.

Approximately 12 slides occurred above The Loop to an area near the Triple Arches. The road is closed from Avalanche Creek to Logan Pass, and it is anticipated to be open by Thursday evening, weather and road conditions permitting.

Park road crews and members of the road rehabilitation contractor, HK Contractors, Inc., began road clearing efforts Tuesday evening, and worked all day Wednesday clearing debris. Still, much remained on the road and in culverts and ditches. Various equipment and hand shoveling were being utilized to remove debris.

Almost 150 vehicles were in the area during Tuesday’s incident. One vehicle sustained damage that required a tow truck to remove it from the area and the occupants of that vehicle sustained minor injuries that were attended to at the scene. No one was seriously injured. A short and heavy rain event was reported Tuesday afternoon that triggered the slides.

The Avalanche Creek area was very congested Wednesday and visitors were being encouraged to explore other areas of the park during this time.

You can check for road updates on the park's website.

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Comments

Submitted by admin on July 19, 2012 - 1:50am.

I've always been a Friend of Big Bend.............N.P. that is!


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