road basics

During our stay in Nebaj, the major (only) road heading east to the next major town (Coban,) experienced a land slide that was reported as one mile long. This occurred perhaps 40 miles east of Nebaj. 39 deaths were reported. This may mean the road will be closed until a new route can be built (years?) The reason is that these roads are carved into the sides of these mountains which are made of a soft rock that is easily fractured. Some of these steep slopes are thousands of feet high. Since the mountain sides are cut into just enough to eke out two lanes, the natural angle of repose is compromised. The roadway under the one mile wide landslide is unlikely to be able to be excavated as who would risk the chance of disturbing thousands of vertical feet worth of newly loosened rocks above the work area?

Watching for rocks in the road when driving is quite an important duty. There are many places, including on the Pan American Highway, where one of the two lanes are buried in rubble and boulders as large as a single car garage. They stay that way for years! Smaller landslides along (and onto) the highways are mined for gravel, small and large rocks. This is accomplished with pick and shovel, usually accumulating a dump truck´s worth of material at the top of homemade chute. The occassional dump truck parks under a chute, sometimes blocking one lane of traffic while the truck is filled shovel by shovel from, sometimes, far above. We even passed by one huge boulder being broken apart with wedges and sledge hammer action! To the right is the only picture, not that great, of a small slide covering one lane of the road. All the more spectacular ones have been seen in fleeting glances from the windows of busses, whereas this day, we were actually hiking along and could stop and take the picture.