Contractors scheduled to begin rock cleanup, emergency slope repairs Monday inside Wind River Canyon

May 19, 2017

Two contractors are scheduled to begin cleaning up May rockfall inside Wind River Canyon on Monday, including stability and rockfall emergency repairs of existing canyon walls about 10 miles south of Thermopolis in the area of Big Windy Curve.

The estimated cost of the cleanup effort by Wilson Brothers Construction of Cowley and GeoStabilization International of Grand Junction, Colo., is $653,000.

Wilson and GSI are scheduled to begin work on the rockslide cleanup effort and slope stabilization beginning Monday between mileposts 121.7 and 122.2 – also known as Big Windy Curve – about 10 miles south of Thermopolis.

“The work at Big Windy Curve will include scaling, breaking up large rocks and cleaning the ditches,” said Wyoming Department of Transportation resident engineer Kaia Tharp of Thermopolis. “Rocks and other debris will be hauled south about 13 miles to WYDOT’s Birdseye Pit between Wind River Canyon and Shoshoni, and also south seven miles to the Upper Wind River Campground.”

Citizens should expect traffic delays of up to 40 minutes, six days a week, during the rock/mud cleanup and emergency repair project, which carries a completion date of July 14.

Wilson Brothers Construction of Cowley was nearly finished with a rock-scaling project which began last fall, with the goal of cleaning up the area after the 2015 Memorial Day flooding and mudslides. Wilson Brothers was finishing up its work in early May when the rocks started rolling, sliding and falling again in Wind River Canyon, thanks to near record-breaking moisture in the Owl Creek Mountains.

WYDOT maintenance employees are continuing to monitor and clear the roadway of falling rock, mud and additional cracking in the highway's driving surface, which began to appear in mid-May.

In other news:

  • WYDOT maintenance workers continue to monitor the Chief Joe Slide on WYO 296 (Chief Joseph Scenic Highway) at milepost 26.1, about 20 miles west of WY296's intersection with Wyoming 120. The slide area received about a foot of snow on Thursday. WYO 296 remains open for travel. The slide has caused one lane of the roadway to drop nearly four feet since March. The highway remains open for two-way traffic. WYDOT geology crews are currently a few days into eight straight days of drilling the slide to assess the stability of the area and the current slide;
  • WYDOT has hauled about 350 feet of concrete barrier to the Eastern Shoshone and Northern Arapaho tribes this week for help in building barriers and protecting structures during expected flooding in the coming weeks;
  • In general, instability on Togwotee Pass is following the snow line up the pass and is becoming more widespread. US 26/287 remains open for travel.

Wyoming Department of Transportation area maintenance supervisor Clint Huckfeldt of Thermopolis encourages drivers to continue to monitor road conditions this spring by visiting the wyoroad.info road information web site or by calling 511.

"Please drive safely and buckle up," Huckfeldt said.

For information about this news release, contact WYDOT public relations specialist Cody Beers at (307) 431-1803.

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