Date:
Friday, December 16, 2005
Contact:
Bill Riley, Maintenance Superintendent, (360) 457-2713
Nick Dawson, Public Information Officer, (360) 480-3648 (mobile)
PORT ANGELES - Work to remove loose rock from a rock face one-half mile from Barnes Point on Lake Crescent was finished earlier than anticipated. As a result, the Washington State Department of Transportation expects to reopen US 101 to two-way traffic by 8 p.m. today.
"What expedited the project was that we didn't find the need to bolt and dowel any loose rock as first expected," said Bill Riley, WSDOT maintenance superintendent based in Port Angeles. "It was a basic removal of all identified loose rock, which made the project go much quicker."
Riley estimated that WSDOT removed approximately 100 tons of rock. He added that that the area "remains under the watchful eye of WSDOT and Olympic National Park for future projects, if needed."
Rock originally fell into US 101 at milepost 228.6 at about 9 p.m. Saturday. The site is approximately 16 miles west of the city of Port Angeles and is within the boundary of Olympic National Park.
WSDOT maintenance crews cleared both the westbound and eastbound lanes by late Sunday morning but kept the eastbound lane closed. On Sunday afternoon, Dec. 11, WSDOT engineering geologists determined that some additional unstable rock should be removed or reinforced with rock bolts and dowels near the eastbound lane.
In cooperation with Olympic National Park, WSDOT contracted Pacific Blasting from British Columbia to perform the rock scaling work. Crews started their work on Tuesday and were off the rock face on Friday afternoon.
Other than a 2 1/2-hour period when maintenance crews cleared the roadway following the original Saturday evening rock slide, WSDOT kept the westbound lane open to alternating traffic. WSDOT prohibited vehicles exceeding 12 feet for four days, but that restriction has also been lifted with the roadway opening.
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