Caltrans crews discovered the debris flow on Thursday, and issued an emergency contract to Papich Construction in San Luis Obispo County to assist with the repair. At daybreak Friday, Caltrans crews and emergency contractors arrived at the scene and found "both lanes of the highway had washed out."
The damage assessment team will continue to work through the weekend, Caltrans' statement said. It's unclear how long the repair could take and the road will remain closed in the meantime.
Officer Yerace said upon discovery of the washed out road he stayed at the scene to keep motorists safe until he was relieved. He later returned.
"Some time overnight, prior to 6:30 this morning, we responded back to the scene with the assistance of Caltrans access and realized that the roadway is now gone," he said.
The area where the road collapsed is about a mile south of the burn scar left behind by the Dolan Fire, one of the wildfires that ravaged the state last summer, Caltrans said.
Glad it didn't happen when my daughter and I we're heading down this section of Rte-1 several years ago.
ReplyDeleteHappened on our honeymoon in the 1970s before climate change was invented (just in case someone is looking to assign blame). Driving 101 instead was not the same.
ReplyDeleteWow, looks like there should be a bridge there. Can't imagine filling in that hole?
ReplyDeleteLook at the map. There is an ascending ravine up that hill. It can't be fixed as it will continue to wash out. Rerouting the road to the other side of the hill is probably the only solution. I walked that thing almost exactly 41 years ago.
DeleteNo problem with the fill. They just use the fake Democrat ballots and dead Democrat voters. They'll even have enough left over to get the Grand Canyon leveled out.
DeleteIt's not as bad as the above photo makes it look.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tbuqT-eMdKM
As a route driver delivering fresh seafood for my friend's business, I drove the stretch between Morro Bay and Monterey twice a week for years. Numerous times I had to turn back because of landslides. For over 30 years I drove every inch of that coast looking for surf or hiking/mountain biking in the hills
ReplyDeleteIn 1998, I drove to Big Sur for a project that lasted one year. I would leave the house at 0500 to drive 90 miles to be at the project by 0700. Being first on the road for the day meant watching out for numerous rocks and sometimes car sized boulders which had fallen onto the road bed. The bedrock of that area is highly fractured. And there is a lot of Olivine and Serpentine in the mix. That makes the blocks 'slippery' and prone to sliding.
A very popular man from my town was running a D-10 on a landslide. I only knew him by the name, Skinner. The slide started again while he was working. Witness saw him ride that Cat all the way down to the beach about 800 feet below. After CalTrans had attempted to retrieve the Cat, they said anyone who could get it could have it. A man waited until the lowest tide of the year and drove the Cat out along the beach. The CalTrans engineers shook their heads as they muttered, Why didn't we think of that?
Research Fransican Melange if you want to know more.
Good wine country just a bit to the east.
DeleteSpelling correction: Franciscan
ReplyDeleteIt is not only the after effects of a brush fire whih causes landslides. When it rains, especially huge volumes like several days ago, the water seeps into the fractured rock to act as a lubricant. That area is already prone to slides because the bedrock is highly fractured and because of the high amounts of Olivine and Serpentine minerals in the mix. This is the case even where the topography is flat, again because of the fractured rock. But steep topography doesn't help.
ReplyDeleteIn 1973 on a night drive - just a there-&-back joy cruise - from Monterey down to Big Sur, I pulled over onto cliff turnout, just to enjoy a look out over the ocean. For some reason (God's hand?) to return to my car, instead of walking back to it from behind it, I walked round the front of the car and got the shock of a lifetime when I saw that just fifteen feet from me a gap of twelve feet had opened in the roadway.
ReplyDelete