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June 24, 2015

WSDOT hopes rock-filled shafts will keep US 101 from sliding away

By JOURNAL STAFF

Photos from WSDOT [enlarge]
In Grays Harbor County, crews will install 190 shafts to stabilize a prehistoric landslide.

[enlarge]
In Mason County, crews will build a 225-foot-long retaining wall below the highway.

Crews this week started building what WSDOT hopes is a permanent fix to chronic problems with U.S. 101 near the town of Artic in Grays Harbor County.

The section of highway runs through a slow-moving, prehistoric landslide. In past years, WSDOT made temporary repairs by patching and repaving the road, and even installed a culvert in the hillside to divert water from the road. Those repairs lasted only until the next heavy rainstorm hit.

Now Rognlin's Inc. is drilling 190 shafts that will be filled with rock, forming a buttress to shore up the unstable hillside and prevent further roadway settlement. Shafts will be up to 45 feet deep.

Crews also will install a cross-culvert pipe to aid drainage.

The $5.4 million project is funded entirely by the federal government.

WSDOT is also repairing another section of U.S. 101, this one to the north in Mason County at mile post 316 along Hood Canal. The hillside was damaged by heavy rains last December.

Stan Palmer Construction was recently awarded the contract for the $1.3 million project, which will be paid for by federal emergency funds. The job involves construction of a 225-foot-long and 35-foot-tall retaining wall below the highway, as well as repairs to 70 feet of shoulder.

Both projects are expected to be finished this fall.




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