Caltrans Building Wall to Contain PCH Slide
Maintenance crews began Thursday to replace a dirt berm constructed to keep debris from falling on the Pacific Coast Highway with a 600-foot retaining wall made of metal cargo containers, a Caltrans spokeswoman said.
The 8-by-8-foot containers were borrowed from the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach as part of the agency’s ongoing struggle to clean up a massive mudslide that closed PCH between Las Flores Canyon Road and Topanga Canyon Road a week ago, said Margie Tiritilli.
The containers “are sturdier and are expected to do a better job containing the rocks that are coming down,” she said.
Two houses on the ridge at the top of the slide are scheduled to be demolished today so crews can finish grading the hillside and hauling the dirt away, she said.
As soon as the grading reaches a point where motorist safety can be assured, Caltrans will reopen two southbound lanes of PCH--one for each direction of traffic, she said.
Updates on the road condition can be obtained through Malibu’s city hotline at (310) 456-9982.
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