The Red Mountain Expressway Cut, also known as the Red Mountain Geological Cut, is a section of Red Mountain that was blasted and removed in the 1960s to allow the Red Mountain Expressway to enter downtown

Birmingham, Alabama Birmingham ( ) is a city in the north central region of the U.S. state of Alabama. Birmingham is the seat of Jefferson County, Alabama's most populous county. As of the 2021 census estimates, Birmingham had a population of 197,575, down 1% fr ...

. This highway links Birmingham with its southern suburbs of Homewood, Mountain Brook, and

Vestavia Hills Vestavia Hills, colloquially known simply as Vestavia, is a city in Jefferson and Shelby counties in the U.S. state of Alabama. It is a suburb of Birmingham and it is made up of Vestavia, Liberty Park, and Cahaba Heights. As of the 2020 census ...

. It has spurred suburban growth towards the south of Birmingham. This section also provides the route for U.S. Route 31 (US 31) to the south (the Montgomery Highway) and US 280 to the southeast. The resultant cut exposes geological strata spanning millions of years (150 million years of geological time within of exposure), including the red ore seam that spurred Birmingham's development. A new species of Lower Silurian (middle Llandovery epoch)

phacops ''Phacops'' is a genus of trilobites in the order Phacopida, family Phacopidae, that lived in Europe, northwestern Africa, North and South America and China from the Late Ordovician until the very end of the Devonian, with a broader time range d ...

trilobite Trilobites (; meaning "three lobes") are extinct marine arthropods that form the class Trilobita. Trilobites form one of the earliest-known groups of arthropods. The first appearance of trilobites in the fossil record defines the base of the At ...

, '' Acaste birminghamensis'', was first collected from exposures on Red Mountain. Named for the city, the new

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

was published in May 1972. The

cut Cut may refer to: Common uses * The act of cutting, the separation of an object into two through acutely-directed force ** A type of wound ** Cut (archaeology), a hole dug in the past ** Cut (clothing), the style or shape of a garment ** Cut (e ...

was designated a

National Natural Landmark The National Natural Landmarks (NNL) Program recognizes and encourages the conservation of outstanding examples of the natural history of the United States. It is the only national natural areas program that identifies and recognizes the best ...

in 1987.

Proposed tunnel

One of the original ideas proposed for linking Birmingham to its southern neighbors was the Red Mountain Tunnel project. This was seriously considered by the city and state highway engineers. Two alternate routes were proposed, one starting at 18th Street and the other from 22nd Street. Eventually the tunnel idea was abandoned due to its high cost and extended amount of time it would have taken. The Red Mountain Expressway Cut was built instead.

References

External links

*{{HAER , survey=AL-85 , id=al1121 , title=Red Mountain Cut National Natural Landmark, U.S. 280 at Red Mountain, Birmingham, Jefferson County, AL , photos=2 , data=8 , cap=1 Freeways in the United States Geology of Alabama Geography of Birmingham, Alabama Historic American Engineering Record in Alabama National Natural Landmarks in Alabama Transportation in Birmingham, Alabama U.S. Route 31

Proposed tunnel

See also

References

External links