CHARLESTON-
The West Virginia Division of Highways is continuing work to stabilize a hillside along Interstate 77 in Mercer County following a massive rock slide that occurred on Wednesday, March 20.
The northbound lanes of I-77 at Mile Marker 3 near the Bluefield area remain closed as WVDOH crews and contractor, Vecillio & Grogan, Inc., work to clean up the slide. Heavy equipment is being used to push any loose hanging rock down the slope in order to keep more slides from happening. Crews are also hauling rock and debris to a dump site along the highway.
While progress is being made, the wet and wintry conditions are making an already difficult job even harder to complete. Crews will only be working during the daylight hours because night work has been deemed too unsafe. While the WVDOH does not envision the highway being open before Wednesday, every effort is being made to have both northbound lanes of I-77 reopened to accommodate the Easter holiday traffic.
WVDOH crews are continuing to direct traffic along the detour route (US 460), with flaggers at every signaled intersection.