Project of the week - Crews tackle SR 20 mudslide
WSDOT maintenance crews work to quickly clear a section of SR 20 near Concrete where mud, rocks and trees slid down from the hillside above. |
Winter weather continues to challenge WSDOT maintenance crews who started the morning plowing snow east of Concrete on State Route 20 and spent the day scooping mud, rocks and trees from the highway.
At 4 a.m. Tuesday, a WSDOT maintenance crew member came across a mudslide while plowing snow between Concrete and Marblemount, east of I-5 in Skagit County. He immediately reported the slide, and within minutes his supervisor was on the phone waking all the people who would be essential in clearing the mudslide safely and as quickly as possible.
Before daylight, crews and equipment were being assembled, and a geological technician was on site, ready to survey the damage and assess whether it was safe to remove the debris from the roadway. The slide consisted of mud, rocks and trees from the steep slope. The slide pushed seven 16-foot concrete barriers, weighing more than three tons each into the middle of the highway.
Once it was light enough for the geological technician to get a good look at the slide area, he gave the crews his blessing to proceed with the cleanup. Crews went to work shortly after 8 a.m. with two excavators and five dump trucks. By 5 p.m. they had removed roughly 500 cubic yards of debris, about 50 dump-truck loads.
In wet weather, slides periodically affect this stretch of highway, where about 5,000 vehicles travel daily. Another mudslide covered the highway several years ago about 250 feet to the east of the current slide.
top
Incident of the week - IRT takes action to protect motorists during truck recovery
WSDOT's IRT responds to an incident involving a truck that ended up on top of the I-5 median barrier in Lewis County. |
On January 2, Incident Response Team member Randy Bateman received a call from the Washington State Patrol regarding a truck that was perched on top of the median barrier on I-5, just north of the Lacamas Creek bridge in Lewis County.
Arriving at the scene, Bateman discovered a large box van had struck the median barrier, causing its driver’s side tires to ride up and over the median. The truck had traveled over 850 feet in this manner before coming to rest with its left side suspended on the median. Bateman closed the adjacent lane as a safety precaution in case the truck rolled over as a tow truck removed it from the barrier. In less than an hour and a half, the truck was successfully removed and all lanes were reopened to traffic.
top
Update of projects under way
US 101 Megler-Astoria - Repairs to storm-damaged US 101 begin on Jan. 14 in Pacific County. Crews will repair the damaged roadside, where supporting rocks washed away during the December storm, compromising the stability of the roadway above. December's high winds and heavy rainfall caused significant erosion of these large rocks, known as “rip-rap.” US 101 from the north span of the Astoria-Megler Bridge (mile post 0.44) to the east side of the Fort Columbia Tunnel (mile post 2.75) will have a lane closure, with alternating one-way traffic. This emergency project is estimated to cost approximately $300,000.
top
Announcements
Hiyu to Replace Evergreen State on San Juan Islands Inter-Island Route
Beginning on Jan. 16, the Hiyu will run on the San Juan Islands inter-island ferry route while Washington State Ferries (WSF) takes the Evergreen State out of service for maintenance and repairs. Crews will overhaul both main engines and take care of other maintenance needs, including steel replacement along the hull. Depending on dry dock availability, the Evergreen State could be out of service until the beginning of spring schedule on March 30. During this time, the Hiyu will operate on the same schedule on the San Juan Islands inter-island route.
Even though the winter months see less inter-island traffic than in summer months, WSF expects some sold out sailings due to the reduced capacity of the Hiyu. The smallest and most unique car ferry in the WSF fleet, the Hiyu carries 34 vehicles and 200 passengers. The Evergreen State’s capacity is 87 cars and 983 passengers.
top
Gray Notebook highlight - Balanced strategies to fight congestion
WSDOT uses a balanced approach to fight congestion: manage demand by providing options, operate efficiently and add capacity strategically. We can reduce demand on the transportation system by giving people options like HOV lanes, Commute Reduction programs and Traveler Information. There are 205 miles of HOV lanes in the central Puget Sound, and nearly 100 additional miles planned. The transportation system operates more efficiently when tools such as ramp meters, synchronized traffic signals and incident response vehicles are used. We have 55 incident response vehicles operating on freeways to assist drivers and keep traffic flowing. Ramp meters are used in 135 locations. Thirty-three of the 110 Nickel and Transportation Partnership Act that have been completed add capacity and relieve chokepoints in the Central Puget Sound region at a cost of $680.4 million. Another 24 projects are in progress and 68 projects are planned. More details on this topic can be found in the Annual Congestion Report of the September 2007 Gray Notebook at: www.wsdot.wa.gov/accountability.
top
January meetings
15, Tuesday, 4 - 7 p.m., PSRC public outreach, Destination 2040 - Bellevue: The Puget Sound Regional Council (PSRC) is updating Destination 2030, its 30-year transportation plan for the Puget Sound region, and they want to get public input on issues (climate change, congestion, etc.), transportation alternatives, criteria and environmental impacts to be included in the plan. WSDOT staff for the I-405 projects and SR 520 Bridge project also will be available. Location: Bellevue City Hall, 450 110th Avenue, Bellevue.
16, Wednesday, 4 - 7 p.m., PSRC public outreach, Destination 2040 - Bremerton: The Puget Sound Regional Council (PSRC) is updating Destination 2030, its 30-year transportation plan for the Puget Sound region, and they want to get public input on issues (climate change, congestion, etc.), transportation alternatives, criteria and environmental impacts to be included in the plan. Location: Sylvan Way Library, 1301 Sylvan Way, Bremerton.
For more details, please visit the WSDOT Calendar of Events.
Weekly Report Archive
top