A massive chunk of a maj the gateway to Yellowstone National Park and the Grand Tetons — crumbled away in a landslide just as the busy summer tourist season is kicking off.
Dramatic photos captured the gradual collapse of the Teton Pass
road, which went from having a few small cracks to losing a large chunk of the pavement completely in a matter of days.
It began on Thursday when Wyoming Route 22 briefly closed as crews worked to repair a crack and drop to the road that had contributed to the crash of a motorcycle.
Geologists and engineers sent to examine the road noticed “that crack and that drop started to move a lot,” according to Stephanie Harsha, a spokesperson for District 3 of the Wyoming Department of Transportation.
A paving crew temporarily patched the road and it reopened later that night.Crews then noticed that the roadway’s damage had become more pronounced. Photos shared by the Department of Transportation show major cracks, but mere hours later the road had “catastrophically failed.”
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