Rapid Response of Emergency Landslide Failures in Kentucky

Spring in the state of Kentucky brings every climate possible within a matter of weeks. Typically, the initial thaw from winter occurs followed by flash flooding rain. The heat is kicked up for a few random days just for the semi-dried soil to be washed away by another torrent of rainfall. Judging by the last few years, a round of tornadoes can also be expected to make an appearance. Haunting fog will plague the hollers in the evening, veiling the missing roadway washed away earlier that day. This creates an interesting obstacle course of dodging cliffs, cones, cars and the occasional ATV. Of course, a threat is posed to all the residents and travelers of the failed roadways. These rural area do not have the luxury of multiple access roads to their homes. Roads with a major failure preventing even a single line of traffic to pass through are deemed emergency projects and are prioritized to begin construction. This sequence of events took place in the early part of 2023 on a rural road in Harlan County, Kentucky, and this case study describes the processes and methods that allowed rapid response for reconstruction of the failed roadways.