Thousands of nails covered a stretch of SW 257th Avenue in Troutdale, prompting crews from three separate agencies to clean up the mess while officials urged drivers to steer clear of the area.
The nails were found scattered across SW 257th Avenue between the Historic Columbia River Highway and SE Stark Street, according to KPTV, which reported the spill Tuesday. Multnomah County officials warned drivers to beware of the debris, and as The Oregonian/OregonLive reported, people in the area were advised to detour on Tuesday rather than risk driving through the hazard.
Road crews from Multnomah County, Troutdale and Gresham worked together to clean up the nails, pooling resources across jurisdiction lines to clear the road. Officials said it remains unclear how the nails ended up scattered across the pavement in the first place, leaving the origin of the spill an open question for now.
A Road Multnomah County Knows Well
SW 257th Avenue falls under Multnomah County's maintenance responsibilities, as the county oversees 269 miles of roads throughout the area, the station's report notes. That kind of sprawling network means debris like this can crop up far from a central depot, complicating quick identification of how or when something like a nail spill occurred.
Crews cleared the nails and reopened the road a couple of hours after Tuesday's warning.
Echoes Of A Colorado Spill Days Earlier
Nail spills like this aren't unheard of elsewhere. Earlier this month, more than 20 drivers were left with flat tires after nails spilled onto eastbound Highway 34 in Greeley, Colorado, according to KDVR. That debris was reported on Highway 34 between County Road 17 and Promontory Parkway, prompting a temporary closure of the highway.
As in Troutdale, the source of the Colorado nails was never determined; police there said the origin remained unknown. Street sweepers were eventually used to clear the Greeley debris, and the highway has since reopened, per KDVR's reporting.
That Colorado incident wasn't an isolated one, either. Less than a week before the Highway 34 spill, a similar event unfolded on Highway 285 near Morrison, where boxes of nails and screws spilled from a semi-truck and damaged dozens of vehicles.
Back in Troutdale, officials haven't indicated whether a similar truck-related mishap might have been behind the nails on SW 257th Avenue, and the cause remains officially unclear. At the time, the message to drivers was simple: avoid the stretch between the Historic Columbia River Highway and SE Stark Street until crews finished clearing the road.
