Date:
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
Contact:
Dustin Terpening, WSDOT Communications, 360-757-5997 (Burlington)
Todd Harrison, Assistant Regional Administrator, 360-757-5990 (Burlington)
Jay Drye, Engineering Manager, 360-757-5993 (Burlington)
WSDOT is taking emergency action to repair a section of State Route 20 east of Rockport after a washout Monday left the highway only four feet from the Skagit River.
The washout is the worst section of a quarter-mile stretch of highway that maintenance crews have been monitoring since March, after they noticed it was receding rapidly. The rest of the highway section is within seven feet of the river.
“Public safety is at risk. The highway could completely wash out at any time,” said WSDOT engineering manager Jay Drye. “The runoff from rapidly melting snow in the last week or two is doing significant damage to the bank along SR 20.”
In addition to compromising public safety, cross-state travel would be severely hampered if SR 20 collapsed.
Maintenance crews also are keeping an eye on a receding section of SR 530 north of Darrington, which links to SR 20 at Rockport. The confluence of the Sauk and Suiattle rivers is eroding the riverbank that supports that highway.
Engineers and maintenance crews believe the highway likely will collapse this fall, when rivers are running high, if nothing is done to reinforce the highway. WSDOT will continue to monitor the erosion and close the highway if the situation becomes dangerous.
WSDOT hired Ferndale-based Callen Construction Co. under an emergency contract Tuesday to repair SR 20.
Crews will gear up through the weekend, and starting Monday, they will place 1,000 cubic yards of rock in the river along about 100 feet of eroded bank, extending a previous 150-foot repair. The rock should temporarily armor the bank against the rushing water.
The work will take most of the week. While they are making repairs, crews will close one lane of the highway and flaggers will direct alternating traffic through the single open lane. Drivers should expect minor delays.
The emergency repair is expected to cost about $50,000.
Drye said this is only a short-term fix for a chronic problem, and that WSDOT designers are working on a long-term solution. Most recently, washouts have threatened SR 20 in 1995, 2004 and 2006.
“All we’re doing is putting a Band-Aid on the wound,” Drye said. “We did an emergency job in November, and the river is just scouring the riverbank out.”
To solve the problem, engineers are developing a design that would slow the flow of water past the bank and direct the river away from it, to reduce erosion. That repair could cost $2.5 to $5 million, according to early estimates.
WSDOT will apply for permits to make those repairs as early as Monday. If the permit is granted, construction would start in August and finish in October. Drye hopes for the same construction timeline for SR 530.
Finding a solution is a priority to WSDOT, because it protects people from a collapsing highway, and because a planned, engineered approach better protects the environment.
WSDOT is working with area tribes and state and federal agencies to develop plans.
“We’re trying to protect the roadway, and balance that with the environment, the Wild and Scenic status of the river and the needs of other agencies.”
For more information, go to the individual project pages:
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