As of: March 23, 2024, 12:30 p.m
By: Johannes Welte
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A 100 cubic meter rock lies on the Engadine main road near Sils.
© Canton of Graubünden
In the Swiss Engadine, two huge boulders rolled onto the main road through the glamorous holiday valley.
There were cars on the route.
St. Moritz - The Engadine in the Swiss canton of Graubünden is one of the most beautiful valleys in the Alps - and one of the most expensive.
Here you will find sophisticated holiday homes such as St. Moritz or Pontresina.
A beautiful panoramic road leads through the valley through which the green young Inn flows, which accompanies several lakes and then leads over the Maloja Pass to Lake Como in Italy.
It was on this very road that a massive rockslide occurred early on Friday morning, at the point where the Engadin road leads between Lake Sils and the foot of the Piz Lagrev mountain.
Rock fall on Swiss panoramic road
“On Friday morning at 7:15 a.m. a rockslide occurred on the Engadinerstrasse between the Sils Baselgia and Plaun da Lej junction,” the cantonal police reported dryly.
The huge block left a large hole in the road.
© Canton of Graubünden
“Two boulders have reached the road.
“A block fell across the road into the lake,” it continues.
This refers to Lake Sils, an alpine lake from which the Inn flows towards Tyrol and Bavaria.
This is a popular area for windsurfers in summer.
Road in Switzerland affected by rock fall: One of the two chunks was as big as a bungalow
And then it becomes clear what dimensions this rock fall had: “The second block, around 100 cubic meters in size, remained on the road on the mountain side,” the police report continues.
That means the rock that crashed onto the road was the size of a small bungalow!
If he had hit a car, the consequences would have been unthinkable.
It still left a deep hole in the asphalt.
It is currently still winter on Lake Sils, even though the thaw has long since set in.
A rock rolled into the lake.
© Wikipedia/Paradise Chronicle
The gigantic rockslide occurred during morning rush hour, and miraculously no commuters or vacationers were affected.
Photos from the scene of the accident show how cars stopped right in front of the rocks.
For safety reasons, the street was immediately completely closed to traffic.
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A geologist is now supposed to check whether more rocks are at risk of falling on the Swiss mountainside
A geologist from the Graubünden civil engineering department will carry out a geological assessment using a helicopter flight to ensure that there are no further loose blocks or other material at risk of falling in the mountain.
“Once the danger zone has been cleared, the TBA will begin clearing work immediately,” it says.
The road is expected to remain single-lane during the clearance work.
Current traffic information is available at: www.strassen.gr.ch
In recent weeks there has been a sensational series of rock falls, particularly in the southern Alps.
Most recently, a mountain road on Lake Garda was buried.
On the western shore of Lake Garda, rocks had fallen onto the Gardesana road.
On neighboring Lake Ledro, a road was recently completely blocked by a broken rock.
And in Valsugana, roads, rails and a cycle path were also hit by falling rocks two weeks ago.
Many experts blame the changing climate for the strikingly high number of rock falls.
Heavy rain washes the rocks free, permafrost in the summit regions thaws, and further down the alternation between frost and thaw blows away stones and rocks.