Arizona highway collapses.....

This is a bit odd, Arizona is not prone to this type of thing as those that live here know it is a bit more stable than the average area. Caught this on the morning weather report, and even though we have that wet stuff passing through the area, they stressed it was not weather related. The report suggested it was a geological event, but left it at that with no further information. Wanted to get this out there, so haven't done much hunting on this. Is it me, or does this appear to be an odd reaction as there doesn't appear to be any change in the hillside nearby.







AZ3

Link

For scale.

reply to post by pointr97
whoa.................this is news

How would you like to be driving down that road and hit that pothole. How long did that take to occur?

I have driven that road a few times- pretty freaky! Its close to the Eastern rim of the Grand Canyon, and that section of road runs along a rock shelf that looks like the plate ran over the top of the abutting plate. Very Interesting!

A number of the news sites here are reporting it as a closure with nothing further....I'm assuming it was fairly quick. The odd thing is that it is such a shift, but the surrounding area doesn't appear to have shifted.

Originally posted by onthedownlow
I have driven that road a few times- pretty freaky! Its close to the Eastern rim of the Grand Canyon, and that section of road runs along a rock shelf that looks like the plate ran over the top of the abutting plate. Very Interesting!

Do you think it is close enough to be a result of the Canyon 'shifting'?

Originally posted by rickymouse
How would you like to be driving down that road and hit that pothole. How long did that take to occur?

'Honey....Honey.....HONEY!'
"What?"
'The roads gone'

reply to post by rickymouse


If I hit that while driving I would have to change my shorts, pants and my car seat after.

Originally posted by pointr97

Originally posted by onthedownlow
I have driven that road a few times- pretty freaky! Its close to the Eastern rim of the Grand Canyon, and that section of road runs along a rock shelf that looks like the plate ran over the top of the abutting plate. Very Interesting!

Do you think it is close enough to be a result of the Canyon 'shifting'?

I would imagine that errosion could be a plausible reason, but if I recall it correctly, that section of road runs just west of a large rock shelf for 20 to 30 miles. I know very little about geology, but it looks like part of the desert floor just lifted up out of the ground as if it ran up on the plate next to it. It seems like there could be issues if the plates pulled apart. I will look for a picture of the rock shelf and post it. And again, I know hardly anything about geology.

Oh, that's just Terrific. I get nervous enough on overpasses and bridges as it is....

terrific - as in, terrifying. We trust so 'blindly' that our infrastructure is secure....and beyond compromise..
gha.

Originally posted by onthedownlow

Originally posted by pointr97

Originally posted by onthedownlow
I have driven that road a few times- pretty freaky! Its close to the Eastern rim of the Grand Canyon, and that section of road runs along a rock shelf that looks like the plate ran over the top of the abutting plate. Very Interesting!

Do you think it is close enough to be a result of the Canyon 'shifting'?

I would imagine that errosion could be a plausible reason, but if I recall it correctly, that section of road runs just west of a large rock shelf for 20 to 30 miles. I know very little about geology, but it looks like part of the desert floor just lifted up out of the ground as if it ran up on the plate next to it. It seems like there could be issues if the plates pulled apart. I will look for a picture of the rock shelf and post it. And again, I know hardly anything about geology.

I initially thought the same thing, that the road 'raised'.....other way around, a good portion of the road dropped.

reply to post by pointr97


Very odd if there are no active plates and no reason for weathering erosion. Mind you, weathering erosion takes time so have there been heavy rains there this year so far? Or even the end of last year? Or ice? Ice erosion takes a while also - the ice expands in any cracks in the rock it is filling, ending in slips / slides (eventually).

I always thought Arizona was bloody warm though so i wouldn't have thought ice erosion likely?

If it is plate related then that amount of ground deformation would have been picked up by seismographs - don't seem to recall anyone mentioning any on the Quake thread.

ETA:

Maybe it is linked to the original construction? As in blasting to cut the road surface could have seriously weakened the rock strata............decades later it finally gives out.

5:42 this morning, ADOT was alert to this by two separate accidents. So this was a pretty quick event....I see more pics being posted, will post as soon as I find them.

I think with him walking on it, he has more balls than me. If it happened once, I can't believe he thinks it's stable enough to walk on. Insane.

There supposed to be a great deal of underground tunnelling out there, ya dont suppose the USAF boring machine got too close to a suface fault as it passed beneath the suface?
An aireal view from google may help but i dont know the exact location...anyone?
co ords?

That looks so strange i`m having a hard time even picturing how that could have happened. It looks like some kind of optical illusion.

reply to post by pointr97


its right around Page AZ.
here is a map
www.az511.gov...

Originally posted by pointr97

Originally posted by onthedownlow

Originally posted by pointr97

Originally posted by onthedownlow
I have driven that road a few times- pretty freaky! Its close to the Eastern rim of the Grand Canyon, and that section of road runs along a rock shelf that looks like the plate ran over the top of the abutting plate. Very Interesting!

Do you think it is close enough to be a result of the Canyon 'shifting'?

I would imagine that errosion could be a plausible reason, but if I recall it correctly, that section of road runs just west of a large rock shelf for 20 to 30 miles. I know very little about geology, but it looks like part of the desert floor just lifted up out of the ground as if it ran up on the plate next to it. It seems like there could be issues if the plates pulled apart. I will look for a picture of the rock shelf and post it. And again, I know hardly anything about geology.

I initially thought the same thing, that the road 'raised'.....other way around, a good portion of the road dropped. [/quote

Sorry, I am not sure how to post pictures. I was suggesting that the plates coming apart could cause the desert floor to sink, as when I drove the area last fall it looked like a gazillion years ago the easterly plate had run aground on the westerly plate. if the plates seperated, the floor would have resettle.