Aerial Photos of Rocky Creek Slip Out, 3/31/24

View Comments

• Oh boy …

• Thank you for giving us so much information!

• I see a serious realignment of the roadway at this location in the future.

• Here? https://www.google.com/maps/@36.3787797,-121.9030235,3a,75y,191.54h,79.64t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sbXfzhg400WJ92SflHlApxg!2e0!7i16384!8i8192?entry=ttu

• Replying to Gary - I think a concrete or steel span will likely be the solution. Realigning would create a sharp curve directly before/after the Rocky Creek Bridge. A span needs to fly across the failing cliff. In the meantime, the remaining roadbed needs to be conserved. Closure to all but residents is hard, but necessary.

• TOMO makes good sense. My engineer concurs with your assessment.

• In hindsight it seems this was inevitable when you realize how close the road is/was to the very edge of the cliff/embankment. I was wondering if those of you who live in Big Sur or travel the road often can give any thoughts on how many other road sections are so close the cliff and at the same risk.

• A bridge from solid ground to solid ground on the other side?
  What do our engineering majors say?

• I think it was maybe two years ago (or more now) that a section of the road (in the pics) with the car traveling southbound also gave out and required a major repair with culverts for drainage etc. Wonder how much damage the Colorado fire on the above hillside contributed to runoff issues that possibly weakened this area.

• To BIGSUR55 - that slip was way back in early 2011, soon after the Fukushima earthquake in Japan, which sent a tsunami all the way across the Pacific and tipped some boats in Santa Cruz. I always wondered if that relatively small tsunami weakened the shore and caused the slip. Caltrans put in what they call a viaduct - basically a one-sided bridge with the inland side grounded on the mountainside. You can see the north end of it at the far left of these photos. Caltrans has done the same at several sites on Hwy 1.
  To GEOFF J, not a formal count, but in the approx 75 miles of Hwy 1 in Big Sur, maybe 200 such places where a slip-out like this could occur. Just my guess but, yeah, lots.
  And Gary, the inland side is a cliff, quite steep, so hard to move the road more inland.