Construction Begins on SR 410

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Story Published: Oct 23, 2009 at 5:45 PM PDT

By Melissa Wagner

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NEAR NACHES - Construction crews are working fast to get the new SR 410 detour road built. It will replace the emergency route on Nile Loop Road, that went up after the landslide earlier this month. And the pressure is on, as winter is just around the corner. But November is a wet month, and it could also cause some problems.

As the rain fell, the work continued at a hurried pace. Construction crews are working on both the river and a new road - re-routing them both around the destruction left by the recent landslide just past naches. Near the river, crews have brought in a probe radar. Which will scan the slide area and give the D-O-T information to see if that slide is moving.

" It also gives us information to crews on site, because if something does break loose, then they can relocate and get out of the way," said Brian White, Assistant Regional Administrator for Project Development with the Washington State Department of Transportation.

And safety is key, especially with a wet weekend ahead. The more water in the area, the more dangerous is becomes. Crews are also working on the new road. On this side, they're building a haul road to excavate dirt from land that was bought by the county.

" We'll take that material onto the new roadway to build the new roadway and bankment," said White.

Survey crews are also laying out the new alignment for the road. When they're done, they'll recover the haul road and replant the area with native grasses to restore it's natural look. This is the other side, where the new 410 will meet up with the current road. The idea is to get it done now. Because once the snow starts to melt in the spring, it could change everything.

White said," If our temporary fix does fail, then we still have a route to link all the residents on the nile valley so they can get to town or wherever they have to go." But for winter recreation, failure now means no one else is making it through. so the work goes on.


The Department of Transportation will start work on an environmental impact study in December. It needs to decide where SR 410 should be permanently located, either on the existing landslide area, or the new nile road alignment. Construction on that project will begin within 2 years.

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