As your guide to all things local in the San Mateo Coastal area, we want to bring you the latest updates on things that affect you! We’re not just interested in the San Mateo Real Estate market, but love being involved in the great communities in the area. Recently, the Half Moon Bay Review posted an update about the ongoing Devil’s Slide project and we wanted to share it with all of you!
Devil’s Slide crews dig for home
Walk through $342 million project with tunnel veteran
By Lily Bixler
With an over-exaggerated rounding of his headlamp, a tunnel worker deep inside the belly of the Devil’s Slide excavation signals right of way to an approaching big rig. Once the worker stops the circular motion, the sticker on his helmet comes into focus: “I love explosives.”
Around 35 tunnels into his career, Caltrans safety consultant Tom LeRoux has a resume “10 pages thick” and says, at this point, his olfactory senses can distinguish tunnels. Some smell like sewage because of the hydrogen sulfate; others take on the odor of dynamite. And the 4,200-foot twin tunnels that evade Devil’s Slide by burrowing through Montara Mountain?
According to LeRoux, this tunnel project “smells like money.”
In total, the northbound and southbound individual bores, a set of bridges and an operations center cost $342 million, which is pretty average when compared to similar tunnels like the $420 million Caldecott fourth bore being built to connect Oakland and Contra Costa County. But this one is unique because it’s the first such tunnel in California since 1964.
Storms in 2005 and 2006 washed out Devil’s Slide on Highway 1, and months of road closure took a toll on tourism on the Coastside. The storms also took the wind out of many commuters who were forced to take a circuitous route to points beyond the coast.
A tunnel project to bypass that dangerous slice of the coast broke ground in November 2007 and is now more than 90 percent of the way finished. In late October workers expect their carbide steel head drill to break through to the northern end. The tunnel should be open for drivers by late 2011 or early 2012. Tunnel engineers expect the tunnel will have a 75-year design life before needing major repairs. Read more….
If you have any questions about this project or about the San Mateo Coastal area Real Estate market; let us know!
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The Half Moon Bay Review just reported that a small breakthrough hole has been dug in preparation for the official breakthrough ceremony planned this week: