Date:  Friday, February 04, 2011

Contact: Chris Tams, WSDOT Project Engineer, 866-279-0730 (toll-free)
Heidi Sause, WSDOT Communications, 360-905-2057 (Vancouver)

Repairs began today and are expected to take up to one month

MEGLER – State Route 401 will remain closed just north of the Astoria-Megler Bridge (milepost 0.5) for up to one month while crews stabilize a slope threatening to slide onto the highway.

Drivers should use US 101 and SR 4 to detour around the closure.

Tapani Underground Inc. of Battle Ground, an emergency contractor hired by the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT), began working on the slope this morning.

Crews will work seven days a week to excavate between 12,000 and 15,000 cubic yards of loose soil, rocks and vegetation. Crews will also place erosion-control fabric and plant grass seed to help prevent future erosion.

WSDOT closed SR 401 at 1 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 2, after a geotechnical investigation determined the slope above the highway was very unstable. Recent rains and several small slides caused a portion of the hillside to detach from the slope above. The unstable mass could shift at any time, bringing debris onto SR 401 with little warning.

Visit the WSDOT Flickr site for photos of the landslide and repair operations.

                                                  ###

WSDOT keeps people, businesses and the economy moving by operating and improving the state's transportation systems. To learn more about what we're doing, go to www.wsdot.wa.gov/news for pictures, videos, news and blogs. Real time traffic information is available at www.wsdot.wa.gov/traffic or by dialing 5-1-1.

< Go Back