Submitted by Utah Department of Transportation
CEDAR CITY — The Utah Department of Transportation will rely on aerial surveying and mapping in an effort to get an accurate assessment of a massive landslide that displaced a section of State Route 14 eight miles east of Cedar City over the weekend.
Latest ground estimates place the slide at 1700 feet in length, having slid over 100 feet down slope with a rough volume of 1.5 million cubic yards of dirt, rock, vegetation and debris. The slide debris is as deep as 100 feet in at least one location.
The aerial surveys will provide detailed points and measurements that can then be used by engineers to design a new roadway. Upon completion of design work, UDOT anticipates contracting most of the work to a private construction company. Re-opening of the roadway is now estimated to take three to four months.
While the area appears stable at this time, it is still being analyzed. Authorities have received no reports of any missing persons as a result of the event and stream water temporarily backed up behind debris early Saturday morning resumed flowing on its own early the same day posing no risk downstream.
The magnitude of the slide is reminiscent of a similar slide repaired in the winter of 1992 and 1993 in the same general vicinity. The slide is located at milepost 8 immediately adjacent to the location where rockfall covered the roadway in December 2008 but left most of it intact.
The road remains closed between milepost 5 and the junction of state Route 148. Businesses on both sides of the slide are accessible through alternate routes.