By GARLAND KENNEDY
Sentinel Staff Writer
Explosive charges used in road construction triggered a landslide on the Katlian Bay road project Sunday, but no one was harmed in the incident, a Department of Transportation official said today.
The slide happened on Sunday during blasting on segment two of the road project, near Mosquito Point, Sam Dapcevich, DOT public information officer, told the Sentinel by phone.
The slide was reported to the Department of Environmental Conservation, he said.
“We’re going to receive a review of the blast from the contractors’ blast consultant, and they’ll provide recommendations,” he said. “From what I was told from the project engineer, it doesn’t look like it was affecting the routing of the project.”
A massive landslide on the Katlian Road project along Katlian Bay, on the Sitka side of the project, is seen from the air Sunday morning. (Photo provided to the Sentinel)
He said the ground gave way under the combined pressure of blasting and water saturation from recent rainfall.
Sunday’s event was not the first landslide on the Katlian Bay road construction project. On October 25, 2019, a small landslide killed Maurice St. Mitchell, who was working in an excavator on the project.
Dapcevich said landslides haven’t been uncommon on the new route.
“Since the project started, there have been 16 landslides,” he said.
Started in 2019, the nine-mile Katlian Bay Road is planned to connect the end of Halibut Point Road to the mouth of the Katlian River by following the north shore of Starrigavan Ridge.
