Caltrans plans to announce schedule Tuesday

Caltrans disclosed more details about the situation at Devil’s Slide and their plans to repair the highway at Wendnesday’s Pacifica City Council meeting. Caltrans plans to announce a schedule for repairs on Tuesday.

Keyhan Moghbel, who is in charge of the project, said that the slide movement has stabilized to the level of movement prior to the rainy season, which means that Caltrans can begin the repair. CalTrans has already begun initial repairs and material movement. The work will start while Caltrans is refining the design. Gordon Ball, which did the improvements on Highway 92, has been selected as the prime contractor for the work.  They have said they will get as many drill operators as possible and work around the clock on the repairs.  The contractor will meet CalTrans at the slide Thursday at 8:00am.

The design is similar to the 1995 design, using concrete piers in holes bored into the slide to tie the material together. But this time the piers will be in 150 foot holes instead of 65 foot holes, as they used before.  The number of bore holes and their locations appears not to have been finalized. Some logistical issues remain, including finding a way to position multiple drilling rigs for simultaneous use and uncertainty about what they will encounter as they begin to drill.

People at the meeting report that most of the public speakers were frustrated by Mr. Moghbel’s lack of responsiveness to question.  "He must have been asked in fifteen different ways to give us a worst case and best case scenario," said one observer. "He gave as many variants and didn’t budge."