Visual Stories

Photos: Restoration begins after Anchorage mudslide

Workers this week will be stabilizing the bluff above Westchester Lagoon in Anchorage after a section of saturated ground broke away in a February mudslide below an outlook platform across the street from West High School.

A broken water main beneath the West parking lot soaked the slope, which had been re-filled after sliding during the 1964 Good Friday earthquake. Crews will begin removing vegetation this week, and once high school seniors and their vehicles are gone from West, trucks and equipment will begin aggressive stabilization efforts the week of May 11.

The previous fill will be scraped away, and layers of permeable fabric will be placed below and above rock hauled in to create a drainage path for water naturally seeping from the bluff as well as water produced by any future pipe breaks. Topsoil and vegetation will then be replaced.

Cracks and smaller instances of sliding below the overlook to the west of the main slide indicate more work may be required in a second phase of the project, which may affect the outlook and the parking turnout. Of immediate concern for now, though, is "to get the drainage path fixed, and stabilize the slope," said Brian Baus, manager of Planning and Development Services for Anchorage Water and Wastewater Utility.

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