YALE — A contractor working for the Washington Department of Transportation began the first steps to remove the 20 million pound rock threatening to block state Highway 503 near Yale.
Pacific Blasting & Demolition began working Friday to clear access points on the hillside where the massive rock slab is sitting.
“This is a major milestone, but there’s still a lot of work to do to get the highway open,” WSDOT project engineer Lori Figone said in a news release. “We’ve got to remove the large rock slab, assess what’s behind it and then stabilize the slope.”
WSDOT geotechnical engineers will also begin collecting core samples to determine rock strength and locations of fracture points along the hillside. Crews are also monitoring the slopes stability with LiDAR technology.
WSDOT officials believe the rock slab came loose from a slide that occurred March 13.
