Welcome to Skagit County

June 29th, 2004

SR 20 DITCH CONSTRUCTION BEGINS; PROJECT PROTECTS HIGHWAY FROM ROCKSLIDES

BURLINGTON - The Washington State Department of Transportation gears up to dig down to protect State Route 20 near the communities of Newhalem and Diablo. Next week, WSDOT starts work on a ditch to protect SR 20 and drivers who use the road from rock and landslides.

Last November a massive rockslide tore down the Falls Creek hillside and damaged the highway, causing millions of dollars of damage and blocking access. WSDOT assessed the situation and determined digging out a massive rock ditch was the best way to protect the highway and make sure slides would not cut access to and from the Seattle City Light company town of Diablo again.

Construction begins Tuesday, July 6. Approximately 170,000 cubic yards of rock and debris will be removed. When completed the ditch will be roughly 800 feet long, 100 feet wide, and 100 feet high. Workers will then build a rock wall that will be 21 feet high and 650 feet long between the ditch and the highway for further protection.

SR 20, better known as the North Cascades Highway, will remain open during construction. Drivers will encounter traffic delays during temporary lane and road closures as crews remove parts of the hillside to construct the ditch.

WSDOT is working with the Federal Highway Administration and the National Park Service to repair SR 20 and stabilize the hillside. The Federal Highway Administration is paying for the emergency repair work.

For more information about the ditch, rockslide and flood damage, and spring opening of the highway, visit www.wsdot.wa.gov/northcascades.