A rockslide shut down the section of US 95 around Walker Lake last Friday morning, as crews worked to restore the major thoroughfare that sees 4,000 commuters a day. No one was injured in the slide, which was likely caused from major precipitation falling on the loose boulders and forcing them down the steep slope into the road.
The Mineral County Sheriff’s Office was on the scene first followed by the Nevada Police. Mineral County Search and Rescue helped with traffic control as well as the Walker River Tribal Police on the Schurz side. NDOT (Nevada Department of Transportation) was also there to aid with equipment and cleanup along with local contractor SNC Construction to remove the rocks.
Wet weather was likely the cause of a rockslide Friday morning on US 95 around Walker Lake. The highway closed in both directions until crews were able to clear the debris.
A few of the boulders were 15-20 feet in height, some the size of trucks. In this case, a pneumatic hammer (also called an air hammer) was used to break up the large boulders and eventually clear the area.
An NDOT spokesperson said that when the slide happened, its engineering team conducted a geotechnical visual review of the area to analyze any potential rockfalls that could happen. It was immediately determined that additional rock scaling was not needed.
“This illustrates the potential for dangerous conditions and how important it is to avoid unnecessary travel and drive slowly, particularly in inclement conditions,” says Meg Ragonese, NDOT public information officer.
The highway reopened on the evening of March 11 and the rockslide was cleared by mid-morning on March 12. Temporary precast concrete railings were placed on the shoulder of I-95 at Walker Lake to hold any smaller, nuisance rocks back that may possibly shed off the rock face across from the lake.
These past winter storms have made travel through Northern Nevada a bit difficult as snow and rain continue to pelt the area. Nevada Governor Joe Lombardo declared a State of Emergency on March 10, warning of heavy flooding danger in areas including Churchill, Douglas, and Lyon counties. Fortunately, the weather was quite nice in Mineral this past weekend as surrounding counties such as Washoe got the brunt of the last atmospheric river. Sandbag stations were set up throughout Reno and Sparks during the time.
Flood and wind advisories were in effect early this week, but the weather is expected to be sunny on Thursday and Friday before another rain system comes in over the weekend. Up in the Sierra Nevada, a winter storm warning was in effect through March 15 as Lake Tahoe continued to receive heavy wet snow. Mt. Rose reported that 56 inches of snow fell at the resort on March 10-11 alone. The entire region has received more than 500 inches of snow this season and continues to get close to the second highest season totals from 2016-17 in which it received 572.4 inches of solid precipitation.
During this time when winter storm warnings are in effect throughout Northern Nevada, NDOT would again like to remind commuters to avoid any unnecessary travel, check NVRoads.com for current conditions, and practice safe winter driving (visit dot.nv.gov/winter for driving tips).
“That is a critical corridor that has upwards of 4,000 people per day, and it really was a team effort to remove the rockfall. There were 15 people on hand between contractors, operators, drivers, and officers to safely clear it; it truly was an all-hands-on-deck effort,” Ragonese adds.
