This was the week for a crumbling hillside beside State Route 169 near Black Diamond to undergo emergency repairs by the state Department of Transportation (DOT). Workers impaled the slope with soil nails (above) and then sprayed it with concrete (left). If the hillside hadn’t been stabilized, it could have collapsed from the normal stress of passing traffic, DOT officials said. The section of highway between Southeast 400th Street and Southeast Auburn-Black Diamond Road, near the Kummer Bridge over the Green River, was closed during the work. The project is only a temporary fix. DOT plans to build a permanent retaining wall on the slope before heavy rains start this fall. About 9,000 vehicle trips are made on the bridge daily, according to DOT, which has a Web page (www.wsdot.wa.gov/Projects/SR169/GreenRiverRepair/) with updates about the overall project.
CHARLES CORTES/Reporter
Hill stoppers tackle SR-169’s problem
Jul 05 2008
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