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Red Mountain Expressway Cut

Freeways in the United StatesGeography of Birmingham, AlabamaGeology of AlabamaHistoric American Engineering Record in AlabamaNational Natural Landmarks in Alabama
Transportation in Birmingham, AlabamaU.S. Route 31
Red Mountain Expressway Cut
Red Mountain Expressway Cut

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. This highway links Birmingham with its southern suburbs of Homewood, Mountain Brook, and Vestavia Hills. 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 650 feet or 200 metres of exposure), including the red ore seam that spurred Birmingham's development. A new species of Lower Silurian (middle Llandovery epoch) phacopsid trilobite, Acaste birminghamensis, was first collected from exposures on Red Mountain. Named for the city, the new species was published in May 1972.The cut was designated a National Natural Landmark in 1987.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Red Mountain Expressway Cut (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Red Mountain Expressway Cut
Crest Road South, Birmingham

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Wikipedia: Red Mountain Expressway CutContinue reading on Wikipedia

Geographical coordinates (GPS)

Latitude Longitude
N 33.496 ° E -86.788 °
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Address

Crest Road South 2301
35223 Birmingham
Alabama, United States
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Red Mountain Expressway Cut
Red Mountain Expressway Cut
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Jefferson County Schools (Alabama)

The Jefferson County School System is the second-largest public school system in Alabama, United States. It is the third oldest school system in Jefferson County preceded only by the Birmingham and Bessemer School Systems. The Jefferson County School System was created in 1896, and initially served all unincorporated communities and cities in the county other than Birmingham and Bessemer. Beginning in the late 1960s and early 1970s various other cities began to establish their own separate systems (i.e., Homewood, Midfield, Vestavia Hills, Hoover, etc.). Today the County system serves students in those unincorporated areas of Jefferson County, Alabama such as Alliance, Bagley, Concord, Corner, Forestdale, McCalla, Minor, Mt. Olive, and Oak Grove. It also includes students who reside in the cities of Adamsville, Clay, Fultondale, Gardendale, Graysville, Hueytown, Irondale, Kimberly, Morris, Pinson, Pleasant Grove, and Warrior among others. Those cities listed below each have a city-based school system, therefore, their students do not attend schools in the Jefferson County School System: Bessemer (Bessemer Public Schools) (established in 1887) Birmingham (Birmingham City Schools) (established in 1874) Fairfield (Fairfield City Schools) (established 1923?) Homewood (Homewood Public Schools) (established 1970) Hoover (Hoover City Schools) (established 1987) Leeds (Leeds City Schools) (established 2003) Midfield (Midfield City Schools) (established 1970) Mountain Brook (Mountain Brook School System) (established 1959) Tarrant (Tarrant City Schools) (established 1930) Trussville (Trussville City Schools) (established 2005) Vestavia Hills (Vestavia Hills School System) (established 1970)