Rock Removal, Hillside Stabilization Begins On North Cascades Highway Near Rockport In Washington

Press release from the Washington State Department of Transportation:

June 18, 2020

ROCKPORT – Clean-up and repair work of series of rockslides blocking both lanes on State Route 20/North Cascades Highway begins Monday, June 22, and will require the existing detour to remain in place until further notice. There are exceptions for emergency vehicles.

The work will clean up the highway east of SR 530, with travelers detouring around the slide area via SR 530 between Rockport and Marblemount. Emergency vehicles will be escorted onto SR 20 and allowed to use a bypass lane.

Interwest Construction contractor crews working for the Washington State Department of Transportation expect the work to take at least a month, depending on weather. Initial evaluations by geotechnical engineers show the slope above SR 20 is unstable and will require removing overhanging trees and rocks before reinforcing the slope with dowels to hold rock in place.

Funding for this project comes from Washington state’s preservation funds and is expected to cost around $700,000.

Detour route
During the closure, travelers are detouring via SR 530, Rockport Cascade Road and Cascade River Road.

Background
The initial rockslide occurred the night of June 10, dumping about 150 cubic yards of debris onto both lanes of the highway. By morning, more rocks had fallen, and now crews estimate 1,000 cubic yards of debris - about 70 dump truck loads - will need to be removed.

Real-time traffic alerts will be posted to WSDOT’s regional Twitter account.

This press release was produced by the Washington State Department of Transportation. The views expressed here are the author’s own.