Devil’s Slide will be open in late September, says Caltrans

Highway 1 at Devil’s Slide will be repaired in four months, toward the end of September, according to Caltrans.

At a press conference in Redwood City, Caltrans announced their plan for the repairs and their estimate for completion. Describing this year’s slide as more extensive than the one in 1995, Caltrans District 4 Director Bijan Sartipi said that over 100 horizontal tiebacks would be sunk under the roadbed twice as deep (150 feet) as those used last time, plus another 60 tiebacks will be sunk 100 feet into the cliff face above the road, in order to anchor the slide to a much larger slide below it.

The repair is "not permanent", Sartipi cautioned, but is designed to last until the tunnel is operational in 2011. "We hope Mother Nature will cooperate until we can finish the tunnel," he said.

In order to complete the repair this quickly, contractors have committed to working around the clock.  Installing the horizontal ties below the roadbed will require drilling crews to be suspended in cages over the cliff from cranes.