State Route 8 drivers line up as crews work to fix concrete mix-up

Slab needs to be redone; first attempt deemed not up to code

By Adam Wilson | The Olympian • Published February 23, 2009

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A new, 1,500-square-foot slab of concrete along state Route 8 is being torn up and replaced.

Projects on U.S. 101 and state Route 8

The state recently completed work on another area highway project prompted by flood-related damage. A slope-stabilization project near Lilliwaup along U.S. Highway 101 was completed in November, according to the state Department of Transportation. The cost of the project was $463,000.

And work is scheduled to begin early next year on a $1.7 million project to strengthen the columns supporting the state Route 8 overpass of U.S. 101. The effort will reduce the chance of a collapse in an earthquake, according to the state.

The slab is part of a $1.2 million hillside-stabilization project overseen by the state Department of Transportation. The agency says the first version was not up to code.

"The concrete that was poured out there didn't meet our specifications. It wouldn't last as long as it should. We've asked the contractor to tear it out and replace it," department spokeswoman Karri Workman said.

The contractor, Scarsella Bros., is responsible for the cost of redoing that part of the project, she added.

The hillside, near the route's junction with U.S. Highway 101, was damaged in the massive December 2007 storms that soaked the Chehalis River Basin. Crews already have built a large retaining wall below the road, and the slab will connect the wall to the highway.

Once the new slab is poured, a guardrail and a top layer of asphalt will be needed to complete the project.

"We don't really expect that it's going to delay the project at all," Workman said, explaining good weather was more important to finishing it.

"We have to shave so many days of warm weather in order to put the final layer of asphalt on top," she said.

Work is scheduled to end next month.

Adam Wilson can be reached at 360-753-1688 or awilson@theolympian.com.