The Shadow
Area residents are being advised to stay away from Dolly Ann Road east of Covington until a large 10-ton rock threatening to fall is removed.
U. S. Forest Service Service James River District Ranger Pat Sheridan said today barricades have been placed at the site and drivers are warned not to go around them since the vibrations of passing vehicles may be enough to make the rock fall.
The area where the rock is located is in the George Washington National Forest on Forest Road 125.
“People should consider coming into the Dolly Ann Road from Clifton Forge or Bath County on State Route 606,” Sheridan said, “Especially if they are headed to the `divide’ where roads lead up to Dry Run and Fore Mountain.
“Once repair work starts, our goal is to repair the road as quickly as possible and make it fully available and safe for public use,” he added. “The rock is
loosening from the bank of the Dolly Ann Road and may fall onto the road at any time,” warns forest geologist Tom Collins. “After the rock falls, additional unstable rock and soil above it may continue to fall onto the road from an undetermined amount of time.”
Collins said the 7 by 4 by 6 foot rock weighs approximately 10 tons and was probably loosened by the freezing and thawing actions of the past winter.
