New truck arrestor ramp opens on Rockfish Gap Turnpike on Afton Mountain

NELSON COUNTY, Va. (WRIC) — A new truck arrestor ramp has opened on Rockfish Gap Turnpike on Afton Mountain, located in Nelson County.

According to the Virginia Department of Transportation, the ramp is the first of its kind in the state and cost $5.5 million to build. The feature is designed to safely stop vehicles as large as an 18-wheeler while descending the mountain.

The department said the arrestor ramp system consists of 10 stainless-steel nets arranged to safely stop vehicles as large as an 18-wheeler weighing up to 98,000 pounds traveling up to 98 miles an hour. The first net is designed to stop a passenger vehicle.

The other nine nets will slow a big rig at a deceleration rate that will avoid injury to the driver. As a fail-safe, a heavy-duty safety net is located at the end of the ramp and designed to stop vehicles larger than a 98,000-pound tractor-trailer.

“Runaway Truck Ramp” and “Runaway Vehicle Only” signs are installed to alert drivers of the ramp as they descend Afton Mountain.

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