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SPRINGVILLE — A highway running through Zion National Park reopened Saturday after a rock fall spurred a three-day closure.
The Zion-Mt. Carmel Highway was closed Wednesday when large rocks fell around 4:30 a.m. about "200 feet from the Pine Creek Bridge on the first switchback leading up to the Zion-Mount Carmel Tunnel," according to park officials.
The highway was reopened after the affected area was cleared and is now open to the normal traffic flow.
The main rock fall included two huge boulders that blocked both lanes. One rock weighed 200 tons, was 19 feet high, 20 feet long and 15 feet wide. The other was 100 tons, 10 feet high, 10 feet long and 15 feet wide.
Workers used a hoe-ram provided and operated by an area contractor to break the boulders into smaller segments.
Zion road crews, the Utah Department of Transportation, Utah Geological Survey and Federal Highway Administration engineers later determined a section of cliff face above the rock fall "constituted an immediate hazard for further rock fall on the road."
That rock was removed from the cliff face before officials reopened the highway. The park got a specialized blasting firm to remove it Friday and Saturday.
The park cleaned up the rock debris and made sure that road wasn't damaged before it was reopened.
"We want to thank all the people who have been affected by the road closure for their patience as we tried to get the road reopened as soon as it was safe to do so," Zion National Park Superintendent Jeff Bradybaugh said in a statement. "The safety of the visiting public and our staff is of the upmost importance to us."
