The one-minute, 22-second video above actually represents about three and a half months of work…

In that time, crews on the US 89 landslide repair project have been busy blasting and moving dirt and rock material. By the end of the project, they’ll have moved about one million cubic yards!

If you’ve been following us for a while, you know that the repair work includes moving the roadway alignment about 60 feet away from the landslide area and stabilizing the new road by constructing a downslope buttress. That buttress is being created with the material that’s being excavated from the landslide area (read more about the repairs in this previous post). ADOT anticipates completion of the US 89 repair and opening the new segment for travel by early summer, 2015.

Check back with us tomorrow, here on the blog. We’ve got another time-lapse video that shows the US 89 landslide repair work from another angle!

Ever wonder what it takes to move one million cubic yards of rock and dirt?

Turns out you need plenty of heavy-duty equipment, a fleet of enormous trucks and a lot of explosives (detonated by trained professionals, of course).

Oh yeah, you also need some time...

Those big trucks you see in the video above have been working since the summer on the landslide-damaged section of US 89, about 25 miles south of Page. By April 2015, ADOT contractors (and their trucks) will have moved the million cubic yards of material from above US 89 to build a stabilizing buttress below.

You can check out our previous blog post to learn more about that buttress, along with additional repair details. The landslide occurred back in February 2013. Since that time, ADOT conducted a major geotechnical investigation and worked diligently to restore mobility to the area by paving Navajo Route 20/US 89T, a 44-mile route that is serving as a detour for motorists heading to and from Page and the Lake Powell area.

If you’ve been keeping up with us here on the ADOT Blog, you know that crews are currently working on the US 89 landslide repair project near Page. You also know they’re busy blasting, digging and hauling approximately a million cubic yards of dirt and rock material that will be used to build a 1,400-foot-long buttress to stabilize and reinforce the mountain slope that carries US 89.

While we don’t have much that’s new to report (moving a million cubic yards of dirt will take while!), we did want to show you some recent photos of the progress. Taken just last month, the pictures above give a glimpse of all of the work that’s happening on the site…

Earlier in the summer, we told you about the US 89 Cameron roadway improvements. Today, we wanted to bring you a quick update…

You’ll remember that ADOT started working in March to expand US 89 from two lanes to four lanes through the community of Cameron within the Navajo Nation, about 50 miles north of Flagstaff.

Besides the road widening between SR 64 and the Little Colorado River (mileposts 464-467), major work for this project includes the removal and replacement of the existing Cameron Truss Bridge with two new bridges (one going north and one headed south) at that location. Additional improvements include constructing a roundabout at the existing intersection of US 89 and SR 64, new sidewalks, streetlights and four pedestrian/livestock underpasses.

Progress is being made

You can get a good look at the project’s progress in the photo slideshow above. Right now, crews are working to complete the roundabout by October. As you can see, pedestrian crossings are being constructed and the bridge is really coming along – the first bridge’s deck will be poured in the spring.

Construction traffic impacts

During this first phase of construction, all traffic will remain on its current alignment. For the second phase of work (anticipated in summer 2015), all traffic will be moved onto the newly constructed roadway.

Drivers should know that at least one travel lane in each direction will remain open during construction at all times. There may be roadway closures; however, they are not generally expected to exceed 15 minutes. Warning signs and flaggers for both north- and southbound traffic may be used at times.

ADOT advises motorists to be alert for construction equipment and personnel, and to proceed through the work zone with caution.

It’s anticipated that this project will be complete by fall 2016. For more information, please check out the project Web page.

By now, you know that crews on the US 89 project site near Page are busy blasting, digging and hauling dirt and rock – lots and lots of dirt and rock.

We’re talking roughly a million cubic yards of material which, as you can see in the video above, is being used to build a 1,400-foot-long buttress that will stabilize and reinforce the mountain slope that carries US 89.

Geotechnical Engineer Keith Dahlen explains that the construction activity recently triggered some movement of the original landslide and until work is complete there could be some additional settling of the slide.

“It’s nothing that we can’t control by getting that buttress put in place,” he says in the video.

Back to that recent movement – it happened last month and as a safety precaution, all workers were pulled off the site until everything was assessed. After geotechnical engineers inspected the site, work began again nearly 24 hours later. Throughout the duration of the project, the geological experts have been and will continue to closely monitor for any potential movement.

The ultimate repair of US 89, which is expected to be complete before next summer, is the final step in fulfilling ADOT’s three-pronged approach to the US 89 landslide incident. That approach included providing immediate emergency access, conducting a geotechnical investigation, and restoring essential traffic to the area, including the paving of US 89T (Navajo Route 20) to serve as a temporary detour until US 89 is reopened.

“This project is very important to those communities that weren’t able to benefit from the N 20 detour,” says ADOT Senior Deputy State Engineer Rob Samour in the video above. “We need to restore mobility to this area and US 89 is a critical link to that mobility.”

To see more of the project's progress, check out photos of the site on the ADOT Flickr page.

Shovels and wheelbarrows just aren’t going to cut it when you need to move nearly one million cubic yards of dirt and rocks…

That’s why crews working to repair the landslide-damaged stretch of US 89 are using explosives.

As you can see in the video above, blasting is taking place above the slide. The excavated material will be trucked below to build a buttress (you can read our previous post for a more detailed look at the repair plan).

It probably goes without saying that these blasts were conducted by professionals, but we do want to mention that no one from our video team ventured near the site to get this footage. They were able to set up their trusty GoPro cameras well ahead of time and were not in the area during the blast.

If you’re interested in seeing how ADOT has used explosives on a different project, check out this post from 2011.

Crews have just started work to reconstruct the landslide-damaged portion of US 89 south of Page and, as you can see in the slideshow above, considerable progress has already been made.

Right now, crews are building access roads at the site prior to the start of heavy construction, which should begin later this month.

This project is a big one. It involves moving the roadway approximately 60 feet away from the landslide area toward Echo Cliffs and using rock material removed for the roadway realignment to construct a downslope buttress to stabilize the area.

According to Arizona’s Historic Bridge Inventory, the Cameron Truss Bridge was constructed in 1958 to replace another bridge that had been built back in 1911.

Here we are, 56 years later, and it’s time to replace that replacement…

“The current bridge is safe now, but it’s basically at the end of its lifespan,” says Project Supervisor Rick Schilke in the video above.

The bridge has had a good run, though, and has carried countless vehicles over the Little Colorado River, near Cameron. It’s also kind of noteworthy, according to the bridge inventory.

“As a pivotal crossing on this regionally important route, the Cameron Truss Bridge enjoys a degree of historical significance for its contribution to northern Arizona transportation,” the document states on page 298. “The structure is technologically important as a well-preserved example of large-scale bridge construction.”

About the project

ADOT started in March on the project to expand US 89 from two lanes to four lanes through the community of Cameron within the Navajo Nation, approximately 50 miles north of Flagstaff. The project is planned to be constructed in two main phases, with completion expected in fall 2016.

Major work includes the widening of US 89 to two lanes in each direction between State Route 64 and the Little Colorado River (mileposts 464-467) and the removal and replacement of the existing Cameron Truss Bridge with two new bridges at that location.

Additional improvements include constructing a roundabout at the existing intersection of US 89 and SR 64, new sidewalks, streetlights and four pedestrian/livestock underpasses.

What drivers should expect

As Schilke explains in the video above, the restrictions to traffic will be relatively minor.

During the first phase of construction, all traffic will remain on its current alignment. For the second phase, all traffic will be moved onto the newly constructed roadway (anticipated in summer 2015).

Delays may occur during construction with traffic reduced to one lane. There will be directional signage and flaggers present during construction. ADOT advises motorists to be alert for construction equipment and personnel, and to proceed through the work zone with caution.

For more information, please check out the project Web page. If you’re interested in the history of the bridge (which we’re betting you are – you’re reading a transportation blog, after all!), you can find additional facts by viewing the Historic Bridge Inventory.

Try to visualize what one million cubic yards of rock and dirt amounts to…

That’s the quantity of material expected to be removed by crews as they work to repair US 89, the landslide-damaged highway just south of Page.

It’s hard to picture, isn’t it?

Help your imagination out by taking a look at the photo at right. We’re told these yellow trucks (the pickup truck on the right is there for scale) are capable of hauling about 23 cubic yards of material per load. So, with nearly one million cubic yards to move, it will take approximately 43,500 truckloads to finish the job … that’s a lot of rocks!

Work to start soon

Crews will begin moving those rocks very soon. The reconstruction of US 89 between Bitter Springs and Page is set to begin later this month. The State Transportation Board approved the $25 million project to repair the highway at their July 11 meeting in Cottonwood.

The roadway, which suffered catastrophic damage following a landslide on the early morning of Feb. 20, 2013, has remained closed after a 500-foot section of roadway buckled in Echo Cliffs, approximately 25 miles south of Page.

More about the necessary repairs

The project will include moving the roadway approximately 60 feet away from the landslide area toward Echo Cliffs and using rock material removed for the roadway realignment to construct a downslope buttress to stabilize the area.

The closed section of roadway is scheduled to reopen prior to next summer’s busy travel season. The construction contract will include a monetary incentive for the contractor if it is able to complete the project ahead of schedule.

Work on the project begins in a couple of weeks, but the major work is expected to start in late August when crews begin drilling and blasting operations to build the rock buttress.

The ultimate repair of US 89 is the final step in fulfilling ADOT’s three-pronged approach to the US 89 landslide incident, which included providing immediate emergency access, conducting a geotechnical investigation and restoring essential traffic to the area.

Last summer ADOT paved Navajo Route 20 (Temporary US 89), which was a mostly dirt road stretching from Bodaway-Gap to LeChee.

“Once a long-term solution was identified, ADOT worked diligently to complete all the federally required clearances needed prior to construction,” said Steve Boschen, ADOT deputy state engineer of project delivery. “This process can sometimes take years, but with help from many of our Navajo Nation partners, the Federal Highway Administration and other regulatory stakeholders, we are ready to begin the US 89 landslide repair.”

If you’ve been following along with us here on the blog, you’ll remember that ADOT has had several hurdles to clear up to this point. After an extensive geotechnical investigation identified the necessary repairs last summer, ADOT retained an engineering design firm and developed plans for the eventual repair. Following that, the team finalized all federally required environmental reviews that include cultural, biological and water quality measures, completed the plans for the required right-of-way easements, and finalized negotiations with the contractor.

The final step prior to last week’s board approval was completing negotiations on a guaranteed maximum price for the project construction with FNF Construction, the same contractor that completed the paving of US 89T.

The US 89 landslide repair project is eligible for reimbursement through the Federal Highway Administration’s emergency relief program, which provides funding to state and local agencies for the repair or reconstruction of highways, roads and bridges that are damaged in natural disasters and catastrophic failures.