Rockslide Closes I-40 in Western North Carolina

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One woman was taken to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries, but from some photos, you can see at least a couple vehicles that sustained significant damage. It’s fortunate that no one else was seriously injured or killed.

The rock type involved in the failure is a metagraywacke according to a geotechnical engineer with the North Carolina DOT, and he indicated this slide was a result of a massive wedge failure. Apparently these problems have been well documented over the last 40 years.

The latest information from the Landslides Under a Microscope Blog (no original source cited) is that the cleanup is expected to cost between $2 and $10 million and take several months. In the meantime, drivers must detour approximately 135-miles.

Video from Asheville Citizen-Times