Small Tunnel Collapses in Mammoth Lakes
I've been following a new incident in Mammoth Lakes and Mono County. The small tunnel that provides a bridge over Lake Mary Road for the ski run next to Mammoth Mountain's Chair 15, completely collapsed about 2 hours ago. This is the tunnel between the Town of Mammoth and Twin Lakes in the Mammoth Lakes Basin. It has been snowing lightly to moderately since mid-morning with very little accumulation, maybe 2-3" in the Lakes Basin, above the site of the collapse. Fortunately, there was a witness looking through the tunnel when it collapsed, making a search and rescue in the debris unnecessary. There were no injuries reported over the air.
Traffic to and from the Basin as well as the Juniper Ridge subdivision is being diverted to Old Mammoth Road. At present there are about 6 2WD cars without chains stuck along the roadside on Old Mammoth Road. Since almost every Town of Mammoth Road Department employee lives in Bishop due to the high price of housing in Mammoth, response to plow and cinder Old Mammoth Road is considerably delayed. A plow truck from the Ski Area is also responding. It is a good thing this didn't happen in the winter when upper Old Mammoth Road can have 5-10 feet or more of snow covering it. It could have been a real disaster if it had collapsed with skiers on the run.
Agencies responding include Mammoth PD and FD, Mono County S.O.,, Caltrans, U.S. Forest Service (the tunnel is on National Forest land and on the portion of Lake Mary Road maintained by the Forest Service), Mammoth Road Department, and Mammoth Mountain Ski Area. I don't know if the tunnel itself is a permitted facility on the Mammoth Mountain Ski Area special use permit or if it is a National Forest facility.
A Ski Area backhoe is confirmed to be on top of the tunnel when the collapse occurred and it fell down to the road below with the operator still in it. There was also a Ski Area work crew in the vicinity. A large trench had been dug earlier by a contractor, just downslope of the bridge/tunnel in preparation for the construction of a bike lane tunnel for the Lakes Basin bike path. I am assuming an investigation will be conducted and any correlation between this trench and the collapse is uninformed speculation at this point. The trench was being dug the day I had my bike accident and hip fracture, and I had seen the beginning of the dig on my bicycle ride that day. Since then I've been confined to the hospital and my house so I'm not sure how the trench was covered to allow use of the ski run and for the large grooming equipment (Piston Bully snow cats) of the mountain to cross it. The Piston Bullies are heavier than most backhoes so it is a bit of a mystery why this would cause the collapse. The road will be closed until daylight and better weather allows. I would presume that the road will also be closed pending investigation work, but that is speculation.
Frequencies in use: 155.595 Mammoth P.D., Mammoth Lakes Fire Department 153.860 (Mono County Fire Net) and 153.950 (tactical), 154.800 Mono S.O., 154.920 CLEMARS, 158.835 Town of Mammoth Lakes Road Dept., and the Mammoth Mountain Ski Area trunked system.
Tioga, Sonora, and Monitor Passes are all closed due to snow. Monitor Pass will probably be reopened with warmer weather coming next week. Sonora Pass may reopen as well. Tioga Pass is iffy, but usually reopens after light snowstorms like this in October. Tioga stays at a higher elevation for more miles than the other two passes.
I've been following a new incident in Mammoth Lakes and Mono County. The small tunnel that provides a bridge over Lake Mary Road for the ski run next to Mammoth Mountain's Chair 15, completely collapsed about 2 hours ago. This is the tunnel between the Town of Mammoth and Twin Lakes in the Mammoth Lakes Basin. It has been snowing lightly to moderately since mid-morning with very little accumulation, maybe 2-3" in the Lakes Basin, above the site of the collapse. Fortunately, there was a witness looking through the tunnel when it collapsed, making a search and rescue in the debris unnecessary. There were no injuries reported over the air.
Traffic to and from the Basin as well as the Juniper Ridge subdivision is being diverted to Old Mammoth Road. At present there are about 6 2WD cars without chains stuck along the roadside on Old Mammoth Road. Since almost every Town of Mammoth Road Department employee lives in Bishop due to the high price of housing in Mammoth, response to plow and cinder Old Mammoth Road is considerably delayed. A plow truck from the Ski Area is also responding. It is a good thing this didn't happen in the winter when upper Old Mammoth Road can have 5-10 feet or more of snow covering it. It could have been a real disaster if it had collapsed with skiers on the run.
Agencies responding include Mammoth PD and FD, Mono County S.O.,, Caltrans, U.S. Forest Service (the tunnel is on National Forest land and on the portion of Lake Mary Road maintained by the Forest Service), Mammoth Road Department, and Mammoth Mountain Ski Area. I don't know if the tunnel itself is a permitted facility on the Mammoth Mountain Ski Area special use permit or if it is a National Forest facility.
A Ski Area backhoe is confirmed to be on top of the tunnel when the collapse occurred and it fell down to the road below with the operator still in it. There was also a Ski Area work crew in the vicinity. A large trench had been dug earlier by a contractor, just downslope of the bridge/tunnel in preparation for the construction of a bike lane tunnel for the Lakes Basin bike path. I am assuming an investigation will be conducted and any correlation between this trench and the collapse is uninformed speculation at this point. The trench was being dug the day I had my bike accident and hip fracture, and I had seen the beginning of the dig on my bicycle ride that day. Since then I've been confined to the hospital and my house so I'm not sure how the trench was covered to allow use of the ski run and for the large grooming equipment (Piston Bully snow cats) of the mountain to cross it. The Piston Bullies are heavier than most backhoes so it is a bit of a mystery why this would cause the collapse. The road will be closed until daylight and better weather allows. I would presume that the road will also be closed pending investigation work, but that is speculation.
Frequencies in use: 155.595 Mammoth P.D., Mammoth Lakes Fire Department 153.860 (Mono County Fire Net) and 153.950 (tactical), 154.800 Mono S.O., 154.920 CLEMARS, 158.835 Town of Mammoth Lakes Road Dept., and the Mammoth Mountain Ski Area trunked system.
Tioga, Sonora, and Monitor Passes are all closed due to snow. Monitor Pass will probably be reopened with warmer weather coming next week. Sonora Pass may reopen as well. Tioga Pass is iffy, but usually reopens after light snowstorms like this in October. Tioga stays at a higher elevation for more miles than the other two passes.
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