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High-Tech Troubleshooting of Rocks along the Road

MAHONING TOWNSHIP — It’s something that can happen at any time: a rock tumbles down a mountainside while you are driving along the road below. That&...
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MAHONING TOWNSHIP -- It's something that can happen at any time: a rock tumbles down a mountainside while you are driving along the road below.

That's why PennDOT was out Wednesday inspecting a mountainside in Carbon County.

A small piece of equipment prevents anyone from having to scale a massive cliff of rock along Route 209 near Jim Thorpe to look for trouble spots in person.

It's called LIDAR and the PennDOT experts using it are creating a computerized image of the entire towering outcropping of rock between Jim Thorpe and Lehighton along a busy road that hugs that cliff.

"You only have to make one visit. You can get everything on one visit and then, from the safety and comfort of the lab, process the information," explained PennDOT LIDAR technician Philip Hendrickson.

What this team takes back to the lab can be closely examined to determine if there are reasons for concern: rock outcroppings that could put the many drivers passing in danger.

PennDOT says this process is just a precaution; there haven't been any big problems.

"Just a few minor rock slides here and there, nothing out of the ordinary," said Corey Reph, PennDOT.

PennDOT crews watch for issues  but the experts can get a much closer look.

"They make suggestions in how to fix or repair or what needs to be done in this situation," said Reph.

There are rock walls and rock cuts, some as big or bigger than this all over our viewing area, and PennDOT says it keeps an eye on all of them to make sure they're safe.

"You got to keep an eye on it, that's for sure. One of those things comes down and hits a car, forget about it, good night," said a driver.

Drivers notice how close they pass to that wall of rock and just hope no major issues are found.

"I don't know what you're going to do to fix it. You could put a wall up there, but is that going to stop those big boulders from coming down? Or is a netting going to stop it?"

Mostly this is just meant to monitor all the rock. This imaging can also be referenced in the future to make sure none of those rocks has moved.

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