Boulders as big as buses fell toward northbound I-5 in March. After weeks of work, the highway is open again near Bellingham.
BELLINGHAM, Wash. — Northbound Interstate 5 south of Bellingham reopened Wednesday after crews cleared a March 19 landslide and stabilized the slope above the highway, according to the Washington State Department of Transportation.
The closure affected northbound I-5 between mileposts 248 and 249 after part of the slope gave way late March 19 and sent thousands of cubic yards of rock, trees and other debris toward the roadway.
WSDOT said geotechnical engineers completed a final inspection before the lanes reopened and confirmed the slope was stable.
The agency executed an emergency contract March 21, and crews then worked seven days a week to clear the debris and secure the hillside.
WSDOT said the slide happened at about 9:30 p.m. March 19, when a 250-foot-long, 100-foot-tall section of slope above northbound I-5 collapsed.
The agency said some of the boulders were as big as buses, while many others were larger than a pickup truck, leaving unstable material above the highway.
Over the next several weeks, specialized crews rappelled down the slope to inspect it and knock loose rock from the hillside using hand tools and air-compression equipment.
Crews also drilled 2,065 linear feet of holes into the rock face and installed 96 steel dowels between 15 and 25 feet deep to help stabilize the slope, WSDOT said.
As that work moved down the hillside, other crews removed about 7,000 cubic yards of debris from along northbound I-5. WSDOT said that is enough material to fill two Olympic-sized swimming pools.
Throughout the project, onsite geotechnical engineers monitored the slope, checked for unstable areas and developed plans to anchor them so the highway could safely reopen, according to WSDOT.
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