Video: Caltrans geologist explains Devil’s Slide

Darin Boville continues his one-year anniversary celebration of the re-opening of Devil’s Slide with an explanation of the geology of the Slide.

Geologist Explains the Slide | Quicktime | Flash  |

When I first moved here three years ago I heard all of the stories about the closure of Devil’s Slide in 1995. But I didn’t really understand what was happening in terms of what was causing the Slide to move. As far as I know there had never been a proper explanation made to the public about the geologic issues.

That changed shortly after the 2006 closure when Grant Wilcox, the geologist with Caltrans assigned to lead a geologic team at the Slide, came to the coast. His unexpected presentation at a Midcoast Community Council meeting offered an outstanding layman’s education on the technical issues involved in getting the Slide open.

Before this video was published on Coastsider there were all sorts of demands by frustrated coastsiders, wondering why a bridge could not be built, wondering why a permanent solution could not be found, wondering out loud that maybe Caltrans wanted the Slide to stay out to teach us a lesson in return for frustrating their plans to build a highway behind Montara into Moss Beach.

After this video was published all of that talk evaporated. People now had the information they needed. The questions didn’t stop—but the questions got a lot better.

So here, once again, is Grant Wilcox explaining the geology of Devil’s Slide.