Seward Highway: Rockfall Mitigation
Seward Highway: Rockfall Mitigation
This project will mitigate rockfall risk at several high potential sites along the Seward Highway between Indian to Anchorage. The mitigation measures consist of:
- Rock scaling ► workers from ropes manually remove loose rock.
- Rock bolts ► high strength steel rods installed up to 30 feet into the rock, then tensioned, to improve structural stability.
- Draped mesh ► high strength wire mesh laid over areas that are highly fractured to hold falling debris close to the face.
- Rock attenuators ► high strength wire rope nets are suspended from posts on the slope to capture rocks falling from higher up and direct them to the ditch instead of the road.
These mitigation measure will be stained to blend into the environment. A concrete barrier with a fence will be present in the center of the road at active sites to prevent rocks dislodged by workers from striking traffic. There is currently no blasting scheduled on this project, although it is possible that some blasting might be required in the future.
Project Schedule:
This project will resume construction in Spring of 2021 and is anticipated to be complete by July 1st 2023.
Impacts to Traffic:
Traffic will not be impacted during the month of July. Anticipate single lane flagging operations Mon-Friday from 9am-4pm. Average wait time is 10 minutes, but can be as much as 20 minutes.