Massive Landslide Takes Out Portion Of Highway 1 Near Big Sur

[WalnutBaron]

This one is going to take some time to repair.

 

[Blues]

Current guesses are a year. But the geologists believe that the slide is still moving, so they can't do anything until it becomes stable. More bad news for the Big Sur economy.

 

[Bill4728]

Well at least it mans they do not need to hurry to fix the washed out bridge 10 miles up the coast

 

[BJRSanDiego]

I read in a local newspaper a couple of days ago that something like 20 acres of new California landscape was added when the slide occurred. But I also read that the "Coastal Commision" is considering whether they will allow the remaining slope that must be moved to be pushed into the sea or whether it might be required to have the world's biggest caravan of dump truck to move it somewhere else. Maybe move it to the Grand Canyon (tongue-in-cheek sarcasm). To complicate things, the slide is still moving. I read that it might take a year or more to figure out all of this.

 

[Blues]

This current closure map is from http://thebigsurblog.com/ That site also shows what businesses are open.

Paul's Slide, which is just south of Lucia (where it says Limekiln State park) is being worked on, and hopefully will open in another month or so.

The new Pfeiffer Canyon Bridge is scheduled to be open by mid- to late- September.

Although I've recommended using Nacimiento Road in other threads, it's now not recommended. It's a small road, no more than 1 1/2 lanes in most places, and is now being used for large convoys of massive material trucks, hauling material for the bridge replacement. You can get stuck for a couple hours at a time on this road. Also, there are reports that construction workers are taking this road home, after their shifts, at dangerous speeds. There's already been one head-on.

They're still not saying much about the massive (one million tons+) Mud Creek Slide. The "very preliminary" guess of one year is still the latest communication from CalTrans. But the slide is still moving, and no one can guess at how long it will be before the geologists give the green light for planning a fix. I've seen comments that people think that the "one year" is wildly optimistic, and that it could take two years or longer to fix this.

 

[MULTIZ321]

Despite Road-Closing Landslides, You Can Still Take A Big Sur Road Trip This Year - Here's How
By Sarah Feldberg, Travel & Leisure/ Travel/ Smithsonian/ smithsonianmag.com

This gorgeous stretch of coastline is harder to get to these days, but it’s not impossible.

Stretching 90 miles along the jagged western edge of the continental United States, Big Sur has long exercised a magnetic pull on people drawn to its dazzling landscape.

Here, earth and ocean meet, not with gently sloping sands but with muscular mountains bristling with redwoods, and rugged cliffs that drop into the turquoise surf below. Just 150 miles south of San Francisco and 300 miles north of Los Angeles, this oblong slice of California is endearingly, enduringly wild.

When construction on a highway tracing the coastline was completed after 18 years in 1937, Big Sur officially opened to the public. Today, roughly 3 million people pass through it each year, slaloming down Highway 1 on one of the county’s most iconic lengths of road.

However, that road is currently closed in four places, cut off by a crumbling bridge and a handful of landslides that have blanketed the asphalt in dirt and rock.

“There are a lot of people with a vested interest in seeing the road open up again,” said Rob O’Keefe, chief marketing officer for the Monterey County Convention and Visitor’s Bureau. “This is literally the quintessential California road trip experience that’s broken.”

The closures are expected to cost the area $500 million in lost revenue, but even if you can’t cruise Highway 1 from Carmel to San Simeon this summer, much of Big Sur is still open for business. If reaching sections of this mythic coastline require more of an adventure than usual, that’s just part of the appeal...."

(Michele Falzone/Getty Images)


Richard

 

[WalnutBaron]

At long last--after what will have been some fifteen months from the date of the massive landslide on Highway 1 near Big Sur--the famous highway is estimated to re-open sometime in September.

 

[BJRSanDiego]

I'm wondering why California expedited the completion of the Pfeiffer Bridge (15 miles north) and paid premium money to do that, infact - - working virtually around the clock - - when the highway mud slide wouldn't be fixed for another full year? Is there something that I'm missing?

 

[mtwingcpa]

I'm wondering why California expedited the completion of the Pfeiffer Bridge (15 miles north) and paid premium money to do that, infact - - working virtually around the clock - - when the highway mud slide wouldn't be fixed for another full year? Is there something that I'm missing?

I'm not that familiar with the area, but I believe the loss of that bridge divided the Big Sur "neighborhood" in two, making life extremely difficult for the local residents and businesses.