The Wahkiakum County Eagle - Established as The Skamokawa Eagle in 1891

At 5 p.m. last Friday, Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) crews reopened both lanes of US 101 at milepost 1.2, just north of the Astoria-Megler Bridge, following emergency culvert replacement work.

As replacement work continues, travelers should plan for daytime delays with single lane closures through this Friday while crews install roadway markings and perform site restoration work. The work is weather dependent.

WSDOT reports that work to replace a failing culvert began March 8. On Feb. 16, after several days of heavy seasonal rainstorms and harsh winter weather had swept through Pacific County, department maintenance crews discovered that the concrete culvert that runs underneath the highway had begun to fail, causing a portion of the road to give way and sink.

Upon inspection, crews determined that the drainage system had become overloaded, causing two separate sections in each shoulder to collapse under the highway. To keep travelers safe, crews closed a single lane of the road until permanent repairs could be made.

“During the most recent winter storms, our maintenance crews were working around-the-clock to keep the roads and highways open and safe for travelers,” Project Engineer Joanna Lowrey said in a March 26 announcement. “We realize that it’s never ideal to close a lane of the highway, especially when there’s only two lanes for travel. In this instance, a single lane closure is the best way traffic can continue to use the stretch of highway safely, until crews can replace the culvert.”

More information about this project can be found by visiting the project webpage. For updates, visit WSDOT’s Southwest Region travel planner or follow WSDOT on Twitter.