On Thursday, motorists will encounter delays during the movement of these four convoys westbound from 8 am to 10 am and 2 pm to 4 pm and eastbound from 11 am to 1 pm and from 5 pm to 7 pm.

Oh, joy, and still no word from ANYONE on the letter I sent re the small 15 ton bridge at the bottom of Nacimiento. Okay, all the appropriate agencies are on notice if anything happens. Let’s hope it doesn’t. BTW, Rock Knocker got photos. Mike Harlan thinks it is from the 60’s, Rock Knocker thinks it is older. I’ll post photos when I get them.

Update later: I actually heard from three agencies today, USFS referred me to County Roads, but Mary Adams has talked to Cal Trans and is expecting more from them tomorrow. At least they are listening.

HIGHWAY 1 UPDATE – TUESDAY, MAY 23 AT NOONTIME– PAUL’S SLIDE FUTURE ACCESS DEPENDENT ON SAFETY.

PAUL’S SLIDE ROADWORK HAS CEASED DUE TO SLIDE ACTIVITY WHICH HAS INCREASED. THE ROADWAY WILL BE ASSESSED AT EACH SCHEDULED ACCESS TIME (SHOWN BELOW), BUT IF ROADWAY IS DEEMED UNSAFE, SUCH AS MATERIAL COMING DOWN, LOW VISIBILITY DUE TO EXCESSIVE FOG OR SLIDE IS BEING ACTIVE, LOCALS/DELIVERIES WILL NOT BE ALLOWED THROUGH. FOR EXAMPLE, FOR TODAY’S EVENING ACCESS, LOCAL RESIDENTS CAN LINE UP, BUT IF MATERIAL IS COMING ONTO THE ROADWAY OR PAUL’S SLIDE IS ACTIVE, LOCALS WILL NOT BE GRANTED ACCESS.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
*Update #3*
CALTRANS ANNOUNCES NEXT CONVOY TO PFEIFFER CANYON BRIDGE

MONTEREY COUNTY – Caltrans will continue the process of delivering construction equipment and materials to the site of the demolished Pfeiffer Canyon Bridge on State Route 1 via Nacimiento-Fergusson Road from US Highway 101 on Tuesday, May 23 and Thursday, May 25.

These convoys will be escorted by the California Highway Patrol (CHP) and will include intermittent closures of Nacimiento-Fergusson Road on Tuesday, May 23 from 7:30 am to 3 pm and on Thursday, May 25 from 8 am until 7 pm. Motorists wishing to travel east/west in the morning must do so before the first convoy begins. On Thursday, motorists will encounter delays during the movement of these four convoys westbound from 8 am to 10 am and 2 pm to 4 pm and eastbound from 11 am to 1 pm and from 5 pm to 7 pm. All vehicles must not exceed 30 feet in length and a weight of 15 tons.

The Tuesday convoys will include asphalt and other materials in 10 trucks while the Thursday convoys will include the remaining 50% of the rock and sand necessary to create concrete abutments for the new bridge. Future convoys will transport two mobile batch plants, two concrete boom pump trucks, vacuum trucks and rebar cages. This equipment will be used to construct concrete abutments and overall construction of the new Pfeiffer Canyon Bridge (PM 45.52).

MAJOR SLIDE AT MUD CREEK ON STATE ROUTE 1 IN MONTEREY COUNTY

MONTEREY COUNTY – The Mud Creek (PM 8.9) area on State Route 1 sustained a major event on Saturday evening, May 20 when over a million tons of rock and dirt fell down the slope continuing down to the ocean floor 250 feet off the shoreline.

The Mud Creek area is ¼ mile in length, made up of five slides, four of which fell during this single event and consolidated into one slide. The remaining slide now extends 1,500 feet in length over State Route 1 and is about 35 to 40 feet deep.

Roadwork at Mud Creek was suspended and heavy equipment removed last week due to the threat of new slides and for safety of highway workers. Caltrans geologists and engineers plan to assess it further when this area stabilizes.

There is no estimate when this section of State Route 1, approximately nine miles north of the San Luis Obispo/Monterey County line will re-open.

 

Aerial video by Brian Mack.

The GIF video is about 23 seconds long. It shows the Mud Creek slide from two different angles. Please refresh the page if the video does not show.  You may need to wait some time for it to load completely.

Below are a couple screenshots from the video. 

The image below was rotated to show the slide from a level perspective.

Top photos by Inga Dorosz and bottom photos by Rock Knocker.

Yesterday on left                               Today on right

*A news release is attached (and shown at bottom of email) on the third and fourth convoys—scheduled for Tuesday and Thursday of this week.*

HIGHWAY 1 UPDATE – MONDAY, MAY 22 AT NOONTIME– PAUL’S SLIDE FUTURE ACCESS DEPENDENT ON SAFETY.

PAUL’S SLIDE ROADWORK HAS CEASED DUE TO SLIDE ACTIVITY WHICH HAS INCREASED. THE ROADWAY WILL BE ASSESSED AT EACH SCHEDULED ACCESS TIME (SHOWN BELOW), BUT IF ROADWAY IS DEEMED UNSAFE, SUCH AS MATERIAL COMING DOWN, LOW VISIBILITY DUE TO EXCESSIVE FOG OR SLIDE IS BEING ACTIVE, LOCALS/DELIVERIES WILL NOT BE ALLOWED THROUGH. FOR EXAMPLE, FOR TODAY’S EVENING ACCESS, LOCAL RESIDENTS CAN LINE UP, BUT IF MATERIAL IS COMING ONTO THE ROADWAY OR PAUL’S SLIDE IS ACTIVE, LOCALS WILL NOT BE GRANTED ACCESS.
MONTEREY COUNTY – Caltrans will continue the process of delivering construction equipment and materials to the site of the demolished Pfeiffer Canyon Bridge on State Route 1 via Nacimiento-Fergusson Road from US Highway 101 on Tuesday, May 23 and Thursday, May 25.

These convoys will be escorted by the California Highway Patrol (CHP) and will include intermittent closures of Nacimiento-Fergusson Road on Tuesday, May 23 from 7:30 am to 3 pm and on Thursday, May 25 from 8 am until 7 pm. Motorists wishing to travel east/west in the morning must do so before the first convoy begins. On Thursday, motorists will encounter delays during the movement of these four convoys westbound from 8 am to 10 am and 2 pm to 4 pm and eastbound from 11 am to 1 pm and from 5 pm to 7 pm. All vehicles must not exceed 30 feet in length and a weight of 15 tons.

The Tuesday convoys will include asphalt and other materials in 10 trucks while the Thursday convoys will include the remaining 50% of the rock and sand necessary to create concrete abutments for the new bridge. Future convoys will transport two mobile batch plants, two concrete boom pump trucks, vacuum trucks and rebar cages. This equipment will be used to construct concrete abutments and overall construction of the new Pfeiffer Canyon Bridge (PM 45.52).

EDITORIAL CONTENT: SO, LOCALS CANNOT GET THROUGH, BUT BIG TRUCKS CAN? AND IS ANYONE LOOKING AT WHAT ALL THESE TRUCKS AND LOADS ARE DOING TO THE 15 TON WEIGHT LIMIT BRIDGE AT THE BOTTOM OF THE GRADE FROM NACIMIENTO? YOU CAN BET THAT THESE CONTRACTORS ARE NOT STICKING TO THE WEIGHT LIMITS IN A RUSH TO GET MATERIAL TO THE BRIDGE. AND IF THAT BRIDGE GIVES OUT WITH THE UNSTABILITY OF PAUL’S SLIDE AND THE MASSIVE HEMORRAGE OF ROCKS AND DIRT AT MUD CREEK, WHAT HAPPENS IF THAT BRIDGE GIVES OUT TO THOSE OF US CAUGHT SOUTH OF PAUL’S SLIDE?? YOU CAN BET I AM WRITING COUNTY ROADS AND MARY ADAMS THIS AFTERNOON

HIGHWAY ONE UPDATE – MONDAY, MAY 22 – PAUL’S SLIDE NOON ACCESS TODAY CANCELLED

No noon time access today at Paul’s Slide due to slide activity with minimal

visibility due to fog. We will provide an update this afternoon regarding this evening’s 7 PM access.

From Cal Trans this evening: All photos were previously posted on my blog from readers.
MUD CREEK HAD A MAJOR SLIDE/SLIP OUT YESTERDAY AT 9:30 PM, SATURDAY, MAY 20—IT LOST MILLIONS OF CUBIC YARDS OF MATERIAL AND REMAINS IMPASSABLE. PAUL’S SLIDE HAS ALSO HAD SLIDE ACTIVITY AND HAS CEASED WORK FOR THE TIME BEING. HOWEVER, IT WILL ALLOW LOCAL RESIDENTS AND DELIVERY VEHICLES ACCESS TOMORROW, MONDAY, MAY 22 BUT CAN CLOSE DOWN AT ANY TIME WITHOUT PRIOR NOTICE. CALTRANS NEEDS TO RE-ASSESS THE SITUATION AT BOTH LOCATIONS AND DETERMINE WHETHER LOCAL ACCESS CAN REMAIN THROUGH PAUL’S SLIDE. NEXT UPDATE WILL BE BY MID-DAY ON TUESDAY, MAY 23.

**************************************************************************************

STATE ROUTE 1 REMAINS FULLY CLOSED IN BOTH DIRECTIONS AT MUD CREEK DUE TO CONTINUED SLIDE ACTIVITY. DELIVERY VEHICLES AND LOCAL RESIDENTS WILL NEED TO USE NACIMIENTO-FERGUSSON EXIT SOUTH OR TO CLEAR THE ACCESS TIMES AT PAUL’S SLIDE.