14 November 2012
A interesting rockslide in Moab, Utah
Posted by Dave Petley
Hat tip to Bill Scarber for bringing this one to my attention. On 5th November a rockslide occurred about 15 km west of Moab in the Utah desert, damaging a railway line that is used to transport potash from a mine to market. The rockslide destroyed about 100 m of the line and also punched a large crater into a local road, Route 279. KSL has a rather nice video that shows images of the site, which may or may not embed below:
Alternatively, the images can be seen here. These two images show the damage to the line and to the highway:

The railway line was reopened today.

Dave Petley is the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Hull in the United Kingdom. His blog provides commentary and analysis of landslide events occurring worldwide, including the landslides themselves, latest research, and conferences and meetings.