Date: May 16, 2008
Contact: Al Nash or Stacy Vallie, (307) 344-2015
Temporary repairs have been completed, allowing travel to resume Friday afternoon over Yellowstone’s Grand Loop Road from Canyon Junction through Hayden Valley to Fishing Bridge and Lake Village.
A two and a half mile stretch of the road south of Canyon Junction had been temporarily closed since Monday afternoon, when a section the road slumped. No one was traveling over the road when it sank.
When the road gave way, it broke a water line which runs underneath, washing out more of the failing roadbed. As park road crews began repairs, they also discovered a broken sewer line and a partially clogged drain culvert.
This section of the Grand Loop Road south of Canyon Junction runs over an area with an unstable clay soil mixture which has repeatedly sunk and slumped, resulting in a rough, uneven road surface.
Park maintenance crews had to excavate an area 75 feet long, 40 feet wide, and 10 feet deep in order to make repairs to the water line, sewer line and culvert. The hole was filled with gravel and then paved. Repairs were made with the assistance of the Federal Highway Administration and HK Contractors, Inc., of Idaho Falls.
Now that temporary repairs have been completed, all major interior park roads are once again open to travel, except for the section between Canyon and Tower Fall over Dunraven Pass, where road crews are still working to remove snow from the road.
Updated Yellowstone National Park road information is available 24 hours a day by calling (307) 344-2117.
– www.nps.gov/yell –
