Sinking road forces NDOT to close portion of State Route 342 from Devils Gate to Gold Hill
The Nevada Department of Transportation said Sunday night that it has temporarily closed a portion of State Route 342 south of Gold Hill as a safety precaution following recent roadway cracking and sinking.
State Route 342 runs approximately from the Silver City area through Gold Hill to southern Virginia City, connecting U.S. 50 west of Dayton to Virginia City. An approximately two-mile portion of the road between Devils Gate and Gold Hill is closed to traffic (between mile markers 2 and 4).
Through traffic will be detoured to nearby State Route 341, commonly known as the truck route. The detour route runs roughly parallel to State Route 342 and provides direct access between U.S. 50 and Virginia City, with an additional one and a half miles of travel.
“Driver safety and mobility are our top priorities,” NDOT District Engineer Thor Dyson explained. “As with much of the area, the section of road was constructed directly over historical mine operations which have been filled in decades ago by others. Our geotechnical engineers, road maintenance staff and others have been very closely monitoring the road as the cracking and sinking appeared over recent weeks. For driver safety and following the weekend rains, we now need to temporarily close the road to reduce safety concerns of potential further roadway sinking or erosion.”
The National Weather Service on Sunday evening issued a weather statement warning of sharp stream rises tonight as the rains continue to settle into the region. Go here for the story.
The weekend’s rain has led to additional roadside soil erosion, and the road is being closed as a preemptive safety measure. This past week, NDOT maintenance staff used approximately 2,400 pounds of sealant to fill roadway cracks. Also last week, Comstock Mining shored up the roadside slope between the State Route 342 and their neighboring Lucerne mining pit to stabilize the highway and improve safety, removing well over 2,000 tons of earth from the roadside shoulder.
Engineers will continue to closely evaluate earthen stability and conditions near and underneath the road, with no anticipated date of reopening established yet.
“This is an important route connecting some of the state’s most prized historic communities,” Dyson explained. “We are dedicated to getting the road safely and quickly repaired and open once again.”
State road conditions, updates and maps are available at www.nevadadot.com.
- 000
- City
- closed
- Comstock Mining
- driver
- earth
- gold
- Gold Hill
- highway
- historic
- Historical
- maintenance
- mining
- mobility
- monitoring
- National Weather Service
- NDOT
- need
- Nevada
- Nevada Department of Transportation
- News
- rain
- reopening
- Safety
- service
- silver
- Silver City
- south
- stability
- staff
- state
- The Nevada Department of Transportation
- travel
- truck
- U
- Virginia City
- weather
- weather service
- Weekend
- Comstock
- Dayton
- Traffic