Date:  Monday, December 17, 2007

Contact: Jeff Adamson, North Central Region Communications Manager, Wenatchee, (509) 667-2815, (509) 669-8778 Cell. E-mail: adamsoj@wsdot.wa.gov

Mitch Reister, Development Branch Project Engineer, Wenatchee, (509) 667-3038, E-mail: reistem@wsdot.wa.gov

WENATCHEE -- The Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) will close State Route 28 near Rock Island Dam for four days next spring to stabilize a rock slope above the highway. The project was advertised for private contractor bids in November. Four bids were opened on December 13th and a contract is now being awarded to Janod, Inc. for $2,393,095.18, 26% under the engineering estimate.

The closure is for the third phase of an $8.5 million dollar project that started in 2003 to stabilize rock slopes above the highway. Potentially dangerous rocks will be removed in this third phase and steel rock fall nets will be installed over the western-most part of the slope, across from the dam.

The work will be done in two phases. Phase-one will require the four-day closure during the Eastmont School District’s Spring Break for the rock scaling. That closure will begin on Friday, March 28th at 9 p.m., continuing through 5 a.m. on Wednesday, April 2nd. Phase-two, in mid-July to early August, will require only some 20 minute delays for the helicopter placement of the steel nets. That work cannot be done in April, May or June due to golden eagles nesting near the slopes.

It takes about a half-hour to drive from East Wenatchee to Quincy on SR 28. When the highway is closed, drivers will face nearly 90-miles of detour through Waterville and Ephrata. An average of more than 6,000 vehicles per day traveled past Rock Island Dam on SR 28 in 2005. In an effort to reduce the amount of days that the roadway is closed, the contract includes an incentive for finishing early.

In 2003, stage one of the slope stabilization project blasted rock from the eastern-most portion of the 300-foot slope and cost $2.4 million. Stage two in 2004, cost $2 million and constructed a large concrete wall to hold rock in place above the western-most section where stage three will take place, next year. For more information, visit the project web page: www.wsdot.wa.gov/Projects/SR28/RockIslandSlopeStabilization/

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