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Vol. III • No. 4
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ODOT Devises Plan to Keep Rock, Mud Slides at Bay By Lori Tobias CEG CORRESPONDENT
Engineers with Oregon’s Department of Transportation have come up with a new fix for a pesky problem that has plagued a much-traveled highway since the 1950s. The recent problems on U.S. 20 — a highway 2.5 mi. from Newport that links the central Oregon coast to the I-5 corridor — began in the winter of 2015 after heavy rains triggered a landslide. ODOT spent $100,000 to fix the problem, finishing the work in October 2016. Just one month later, record rainfalls caused the road to slide again. The state has been working on the problem for decades. In the 1960s, ODOT placed a culvert beneath the roadway and was able to keep the slope stable with only ongoing minor repairs — until the recent slides. But this time ODOT engineers looked a little deeper. A geotechnical investigation revealed that the original culvert had failed and that the slide area beneath the highway stretched south all the way to Yaquina Bay.
With that knowledge, they decided to take a different approach to the repair. This one with a $1 million price tag. “With landslides, basically you can either drain them, buttress them or unload them,” said Steve Schultz, ODOT project manager. “We can’t get down and get a see ODOT page 10
The blocks were one part of a twoprong approach that also included installing a large trench drain just north of the geofoam to divert water away from the slide area.
Crews first used excavators, loaders and dozers to clear out the slide debris, and hauled out 150 truckloads of soil. Then they lined the excavated site with drain rock.
Lawmakers Pass Water Bill, Approve $4B in Construction By Phuong Le ASSOCIATED PRESS
SEATTLE (AP) The state Legislature approved more than $4 billion in construction projects across the state after reaching a deal on a contentious water issue that had stalled the capital budget for months. The Senate and the House passed legislation aimed at addressing issues in the state Supreme Court decision known as Hirst involving the use of domestic wells in rural areas. Lawmakers also approved a $4.2 billion construction spending plan that includes money for major projects across the state, including affordable housing, K-12 school buildings, mental health beds and public work projects. Several lawmakers applauded the passage of the capital budget and touted the jobs and investments across the state. Sen. David Frockt, a Seattle Democrat and the Senate cap-
ital budget chair, said capital budgets have traditionally been bipartisan efforts. “It’s unfortunate that Washingtonians had to wait so long for this funding,” he said in a statement after the vote. Lawmakers adjourned last year without approving the two-year construction budget after Republicans refused to pass it without legislation to address the 2016 Hirst court ruling. Senate 6091, which passed 35-14 in Senate and 66-30 in the House, would allow landowners in rural areas to tap household wells — know as permit-exempt wells — while local committees work to develop plans for future water use. Those plans must outline how to offset potential impacts to rivers and streams from those wells. The plan includes $300 million over the next 15 years for projects that improve stream flows and restore watersheds. Sen. Kevin Van De Wege, a Sequim Democrat who spon-
sored the measure, said in a statement that his legislation responds to the court decision in “a fair and measured way.” “I suspect no one will be completely happy with this bill,” he said, adding that it indicates that the measure does a good job of balancing competing interests. After the bill passed, Sen. Judy Warnick, a Moses Lake Republican and a lead negotiator on the issued, said in a statement that the compromise deal will bring needed relief for rural families that just want to drill a small household well. Property owners have provided emotional testimony in Olympia, recounting how they spent thousands of dollars to prepare lots to build homes or to dig wells but weren’t able to get building permits. Building, real estate and property rights groups and other critics said the court ruling resulted in staggering economic impacts in rural communities, from declining home values to see FUNDING page 10