U.S. Highway 101 near the Bogachiel River south of Forks will be open for two-way traffic this afternoon for the first time in nearly six months.
State Department of Transportation crews reduced the highway to a single lane and installed a temporary signal in September after portions of the northbound lane began sliding into the Bogachiel.
Transportation designed and oversaw construction of the two-phase, $1.1 million fix.
In phase one, Quigg Construction of Aberdeen installed nearly 2,400 feet of drains in the hillside above the road. Crews then built an 85-foot-long wall along the edge of the slide to stabilize what was left of the road.
Then Bruch and Bruch Construction of Port Angeles built a 246-foot-long “soldier pile”‘ retaining wall, and rebuilt the road on lightweight wood fiber placed between the solder pile and wall built in the first phase.
