Highway in California closed due to rockslides

San Francisco, Dec 6 (IANS) California's Highway 1, also known as the Pacific Coast Highway, was closed after multiple rockslides occurred along the classic road trip route.The rockslides, triggered by heavy rain over the weekend, forced a 40-mile stretch of the road to be shut down on Monday in order to assess the damage, reports Xinhua news agency.Photos released by California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) showed that large and small rocks tumbled down the side of a mountain and through a net meant to catch them onto the highway.Highway 1 "remains CLOSED in both directions from #RaggedPoint to south of #BigSur", Caltrans tweeted, adding "geo-tech engineers are assessing damage before cleanup. There is no estimated time of reopening".There were "dozens of areas of concern" ranging from rocks and debris in the roadway throughout sections of the entire length in the closed area, the Caltrans noted.No casualty was reported after the rockslides since the California Highway Patrol (CHP) prohibited any business and private vehicles from driving into the closed route Saturday afternoon.The most well-known and photographed stretch of California's Highway 1 runs along California's Central Coast from Ragged Point of Santa Barbara County to Monterey, passing by the unspoiled coastline of Big Sur.The part from Monterey to Big Sur remains open.
--IANS ksk/

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