ITD crews set to start clearing rockside from U.S. 95 south of Riggins on Monday
Idaho Transportation Department crews are set to start clearing the rockslide on U.S. 95 near Riggins on Monday. It has blocked the road for almost two weeks.
Some of the boulders in the roadway are 40 feet wide, so crews will have to use explosives to make the rocks small enough to move.
“Our entire timeline is dependent on survey results,” operations engineer Jared Hopkins said in a news release. “If we observe movement, that will limit our ability to have crews working underneath the slope and delay the eventual reopening of the temporary road.”
No significant movement has been detected since late last week, allowing scalers to finish dislodging loose material on the rock face this week. Removing debris and rebuilding the rock berm to shield the temporary road is planned to take at least all week.
While the road is still closed, drivers will continue to be detoured to Old Pollock Road.
ITD hired WHPacific to design a mitigation plan that will include controlled blasting. Those plans are scheduled to be advertised in a few weeks to allow for construction in late summer.
This story was originally published July 17, 2020 at 10:38 AM.
