Until Friday, the B197 will only be open to traffic between 8 p.m. and 7 a.m. During the day, it will remain closed for further clean-up work, the state of Tyrol announced in the afternoon. On the Vorarlberg side, a temporary structure was previously erected at the washed-out site.
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10,000 cubic metres of material removed
The road will be used during the day “for the urgently needed work to remove the enormous masses of rubble using heavy machinery in order to restore the safety of the road and, above all, the residential area as best as possible,” said the state of Tyrol. So far, around 10,000 cubic metres of material have been removed. Around 40,000 to 50,000 cubic metres of material – that’s up to 5,000 truckloads – have to be removed from the sediment basins. In addition, numerous trucks, excavators and emergency vehicles are busy clearing up the area around the tourist resort of St. Anton am Arlberg, which has also been affected. The main aim is to empty the sediment basins quickly.
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A mudslide that occurred on the Vorarlberg side of the Arlberg road on Friday evening had blocked the entire roadway of the Arlberg road. The road was severely eroded and a section of the lane towards Tyrol was torn away over a length of around 60 metres. The clean-up and repair work began immediately, and a temporary structure was erected and asphalted on Saturday evening, Vorarlberg’s State Councillor for Security Christian Gantner (ÖVP) told the APA this morning. The road was “passable again by the weekend” and Vorarlberg was ready for “opening to traffic”, said State Governor Markus Wallner (ÖVP) in a press release on Monday afternoon before the decision of the Tyrol State Command was announced.
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Rail connection maintained
Because the Arlberg road tunnel is closed until November for renovation work, both road connections on the Arlberg were initially impassable or only partially passable. To make matters worse, the Silvretta High Alpine Road on the Vorarlberg side is also closed until further notice for renovation work following a rockslide in mid-July and another mudslide on August 17th. Vorarlberg was initially only accessible from Tyrol and vice versa via the Lech Valley or Germany. The ÖBB, however, emphasized that the rail connection between the federal states was intact. The train station in St. Anton was also accessible by both public transport and by car.
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In the area around St. Anton, there were mudslides several meters high, and vehicles and houses were swept away by the earth masses and flash floods. A total of 35 houses were damaged by the storm. A large mudslide occurred at the so-called Jungbrunntobel, among other places, and two streams burst their banks as a result, causing blockages. However, no one was injured.
“Worked through the night”
The clean-up work was still in full swing on Monday. “We worked through the night,” said Peter Mall from the crisis team to the APA on Monday. 250 emergency workers from several Tyrolean districts were on site, clearing out the sediment basins and repairing houses. However, the work “would not be finished on Friday, these are major projects,” he noted. The main road in the town was still covered in mud, but traffic had been restored within the town. However, he appealed to people to “avoid driving if possible.”
However, Mall said there was no reason to fear further landslides. It only rained lightly during the night and there was no precipitation on Monday morning. With the weather improving, the forecast is also good.
Sellraintalstraße also closed
In addition to the road closures on the Arlberg, the Sellraintalstraße (L13) between Sellrain and Kematen was also closed after a mudslide. This will probably remain so until at least Friday, it was said. A bypass is possible via Grinzens and Oberperfuss.
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Image: (APA/LAND TIROL)
Source: Nachrichten
