INDEX – U.S. 2 has stopped sinking.
Crews are drilling 40-foot-long “nails” into the earth below the highway just east of Index. They’re hoping the work will, at least for now, stop a 130-foot long stretch from crumbling away.
“It’s critical to keep this road open,” Pat Mallahan, chief inspector of the state Department of Transportation, said Monday.
The eastbound lane of the highway sank 7 feet after the ground below it became saturated during the Election Day flood on Nov. 7.
U.S. 2 is one of the main roads connecting Eastern Washington with Western Washington, and thousands of vehicles travel over Stevens Pass every day.
The repair work is expected to cost about $1 million, funded by federal emergency money, Mallahan said. The project is expected to wrap up in mid-February.
Work started on stabilizing the road by pouring concrete along part of a slope that abuts the road bed.
Through that new concrete wall, workers are drilling 70 steel nails – more like long, hollow screws – into the ground at a 15-degree angle.
The nails are an inch in diameter and are being placed in two rows, a higher one closer to the road bed, the other lower on the slope. The nails in both rows are about 4 feet apart.
Once in place, concrete is pumped through the hollow nails, which puddles into a solid footing at the end.
The nails are expected to keep drivers safe, while the state explores a permanent fix for the site, he said.
Finding the permanent fix could be difficult. Engineers had to dig 80 feet into the ground before reaching solid rock. The ground includes rocks, wood, clay and sand, Mallahan said.
“There’s everything in there,” he said.
Work is continuing around the clock.
If necessary, crews will close one lane of the road during weekdays, and flaggers will direct traffic. But both lanes will be open on weekends, when traffic gets heavy as people head for the Stevens Pass Ski Resort.
About 17,500 cars pass through the area daily on weekends. That is up from 6,500 on weekdays, according to the Transportation Department.
The state asks drivers for patience, said Erin Bogenschutz, a spokeswoman for the transportation department.
The speed limit through the area has been reduced to 35 mph. Some drivers have been ticketed for speeding since the construction started about a week ago, Bogenschutz said.
“They need to slow down,” she said. “It’s for their safety and for the crew’s safety.”
Reporter Yoshiaki Nohara: 425-339-3029 or ynohara@heraldnet.com.
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