A debris-laden landslide has closed SR 706, the popular road from Ashford, Washington to Mt. Ranier National Park. The road was first closed on February 6 as portions of the highway were covered with debris up to 6 feet thick, even re-routing streams over portions of the highway. The road will remain closed indefinitely because geotechnical engineers are concerned about the stability of the saturated slopes above the highway and about what to do with the new waterways flowing over the highway. More info can be found on the WSDOT blog.
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Nile Landslide Destroys Large Stretch of Washington SR 410
A massive landslide has destroyed at least a quarter-mile of State Route 410 in Washington State, about 10 miles from Naches in Yakima County. It has also damaged about 12 structures including residential homes and quarry buildings and diverted the Naches River. The media has been referring to it as the Naches Slide, but the personnel from the Washington Department of Natural Resources, Division of Geology and Earth Resources who have began investigating the slide as well as WSDOT are calling it the Nile Landslide. (Photo by WAStateDNR-DoGaER)
Click through for photos and videos. For more info on the slide, check out the Sliding Thought Blog, an unofficial blog by Isabelle Sarikhan of the WAStateDNR – Division of Geology and Earth Resources “aka” the Washington Geologic Survey. She’s been actively investigating the slide along with some colleagues.