6/28/2005
Intermittent U.S. 93 closures planned to allow rock removal
RIGBY - Beginning July 11, U.S. 93 north of Salmon (mileposts 314-326) will be closed for 20-minute intervals while crews remove loose rock from steep slopes along the highway, the Idaho Transportation Department announced.
The rock scaling project is expected to take five weeks and crews will work Mondays through Fridays, 7 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The work will be performed by PKO of Roseburg, Ore., and ITD.
Scaling requires crew members to be suspended from climbing ropes while using hand tools to remove loose and potentially unstable rock. It does not involve the use of explosives.
The rock scaling operation is intended to increase safety for passing motorists and to reduce the damage to vehicles and the roadway surface caused by falling rock. It marks the beginning of an ongoing maintenance effort to reduce rock-fall hazards throughout eastern Idaho.
Flaggers will stop traffic for up to 20 minutes at a time while loose rock is knocked down and then cleaned from the roadway.