TYEE RD Rockslide.jpeg

Douglas County will have to clean up a massive rockslide that occurred Tuesday on Tyee Access Road about 15 miles west of Sutherlin. According to the Public Works Department, the rock is 40-feet in length and 40-feet tall and it could cost as much as $50,000 to clean up.

(Douglas County Public Works Department)

What a rocky road.

The Oregon Department of Transportation posted a picture on social media Wednesday morning showing a massive rockslide a day earlier along Tyee Access Road about 15 miles west of Sutherlin in Douglas County.

"Southern Oregon is prone to landslides with steep slopes and weak rock and soil," states the Facebook post. "Add a heavy dose of winter rain and events like this occur."

Not all large rockfalls happen on Oregon state highways. Southern Oregon is prone to landslides with steep slopes and... Posted by Oregon Department of Transportation on Wednesday, February 17, 2016

The job to clean up the mass lands on Douglas County, and Public Works Director Rob Paul estimated the project will cost about $50,000. The biggest rock is 40 feet wide and 40 feet tall, he said.

"This is an area where we have a lot of these large sandstones," Paul said. "We've seen large chunks come off before, but not this large for quite some time."

To clear the road, Paul said, crews will have to drill holes about a foot apart through the rock and place explosives or other materials that will break up the rock into more manageable pieces, he said. Crews should have the road open by Thursday night or Friday, Paul said.

Meanwhile, farther south on the Oregon Coast, repairs continue on another road blocked by land movement. A few weeks after a massive landslide and sinkhole ate up roads and a parking lot in Harbor, just south of Brookings, one-lane traffic was restored on U.S. 101 for northbound traffic, ODOT announced Tuesday. Crews had re-established one-lane traffic for southbound drivers Feb. 3.

Crews are working to repair Shopping Center Avenue, which runs parallel to 101, said Jared Castle, ODOT spokesman. After the avenue is finished, crews will temporarily close 101 again to replace underground culverts, he said. The estimated $4 million project should wrap up by the end of March.

-- Tony Hernandez

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