Mitigation of SR87 landslide continues

Our correspondents report that ADOT has been busy unloading upper parts of the landslide that damaged State Route 87 during Easter weekend in 2008.

Unusually heavy rains in the area this winter are resulting in more movement on the slide, which is prompting ADOT to excavate soil from the upper areas of the slide complex. In fact, we hear that the local paper, the Payson Roundup, is no longer reporting on activities there because they've become so routine.

The steel beams buried in 2008 [right, credit ADOT] to brace the slide along the road are slowly being bent towards the highway. A geotechnical engineer told me that if and when they reach a critical angle, ADOT will have to take significant action to protect the highway.

We've heard informal estimates that the slide repair and mitigation efforts cost $18 million in 2008 alone. The additional costs since then, must be making this one of the more expensive landslides in the state's history.