ALDOT: U.S. 231 excavation work advancing

Published on March 6, 2020

The Alabama Department of Transportation entered into an emergency agreement with Reed Contracting to continue removal of material from the U.S. 231 landslide area on Brindlee Mountain in Morgan County.

With about 1,000 feet of pavement already removed, excavating colluvial rock and soil to further reduce the load on the slide area is the first step toward permanent repair. The contractor is on site today preparing for the excavation work expected to proceed Saturday, weather permitting.

ALDOT engineers, with the assistance of consultant Dan Brown and Associates, specialists in geotechnical engineering, are in the final stages of determining a permanent, safe, and timely solution, of which removing the overburden on the slide will be the first step. ALDOT anticipates releasing information on other measures to be included in the plan next week.

ALDOT will continue to expedite all steps of design, bidding, and construction using all means available under the state of emergency declared by Gov. Kay Ivey. The closure of U.S. 231 followed severe pavement cracking caused by a substantial slide triggered by heavy rainfall.