Date:  Thursday, December 17, 2009

Contact: Dustin Terpening, WSDOT communications, 360-757-5997 (Burlington)
Rory Routhe, Asst Director, Bellingham Public Works Department, 360-778-7900 (Bellingham)

BELLINGHAM – Crews will reopen Chuckanut Drive (SR 11) south of Bellingham on Friday afternoon, Dec. 18, nearly a month after two separate rockslides blocked the highway and destabilized the hillside above the road.

Crews worked through frigid temperatures, pouring rain and even snow for the past month to remove loose rock from two separate areas of the hillside and stabilize the slopes so the road could reopen.

Drivers may face intermittent lane closures Monday, Dec. 21, as crews complete final inspections of the slide areas.

The first rockslide on Nov. 23 occurred two miles south of the Whatcom/Skagit county line (milepost 11.8), and completely closed the road. The second rockslide on Nov. 26 was within the Bellingham city limits, between Spokane and California streets (milepost 18.3). Crews were able to reopen that section of highway to one-lane alternating traffic within a day.

At the Nov. 23 slide location, crews removed approximately 125 yards of loose rock and debris, inserted nearly 1,000 linear feet of rock bolts into the hillside, and sprayed about 60 yards of shotcrete (spray-on concrete) on the hillside. Pictures: www.flickr.com/photos/wsdot/sets/72157622863800308/.  

At the Nov. 26 slide location, crews removed approximately 60 yards of loose rock and debris, inserted nearly 600 linear feet of rock bolts into the hillside, and sprayed on about 20 yards of shotcrete. Pictures: www.flickr.com/photos/wsdot/sets/72157622791287399/.  

WSDOT and the city of Bellingham both hired contractor Scarsella Brothers Inc. of Seattle through emergency contracts to clear the slides and stabilize the hillsides. The estimated cost for the WSDOT project is $300,000, and $100,000 for the city of Bellingham project.

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