Switzerland’s A1 motorway, the main route connecting the country’s east and west, was closed for several hours yesterday near Courgevaux in Fribourg Canton by a major landslide caused by a beaver.
The rodent wasn’t actually on the scene of the disruption, which spilled several tons of earth and rock on the roadway. The beaver had dammed a small stream in the hills above the roadway, and when the water backed up enough, it put pressure on the back side of the highway’s retaining wall, and…well, chaos.
The debris was eventually cleared by a construction crew with earth-moving equipment, but it was evening before the road could be re-opened, leaving motorists to find other routes for nearly 12 hours. Photo: Fribourg Canton Police
