Sections of Route 68 in Industry and Route 51 in Fallston remain closed Tuesday after landslides blocked the roads.
Sections of Route 68 in Industry and Route 51 in Fallston remain closed Tuesday after landslides blocked the roads.
Steve Cowan, a spokesman for the state Department of Transportation, said Tuesday morning there was no timeline for when the roads might fully reopen to traffic. He said crews are on scene in both locations assessing the damage and formulating cleanup plans.
The Route 68 landslide occurred Monday morning about 1 mile east of the Shippingport Bridge. The road remains closed in both directions between the bridge and Wolf’s Run.
Cowan said crews are on scene determining if a rock outcropping is to blame for the slide, and “whether or not we have to address that material prior to the road reopening.”
Later in the day Monday, a landslide on Route 51 closed the road between the Veterans Memorial Bridge and Wildwood Road.
In addition to those landslides, Cowan said one lane of Darlington Road is closed in the area because of a drainage pipe failure. Crews are currently examining whether that pipe failure caused the landslide down onto Route 51.
“We’re making a determination on what repairs, if any, need to be made and how the cleanup will go,” he said.
Cowan and other PennDOT officials are dealing with landslides all over the region, not just Beaver County. He said western Pennsylvania recently experienced the wettest February on record, which completely saturated the ground and laid the foundation for the current landslides.
“The amount of rainfall we’ve received is just really saturating the hillsides,” he said.
For Bob Coblentz, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Moon Township, the proof is in the numbers.
He said western Pennsylvania has received nearly 18 inches of liquid precipitation since January 1, when the normal volume is about 9.8 inches. That’s compared to 11.4 inches at this point last year, which was also above normal.
“That gives you an idea of how bad it is,” he said. “Last year was above average. This year we’re really above normal here.”
From Sunday and Monday alone, about 2 inches of rain fell in the region. Rain is expected to impact the area through Thursday afternoon.
Landslides also closed Brodhead Road between Flaugherty Run and Shafer roads in Moon Township on Monday.