View full sizeThe project to eliminate tight curves on U.S. 20 by building 6.5 miles of
new road between Pioneer Mountain and Eddyville began in 2005. Along with the 11
new bridges, the project includes cutting new road through forest 300 to 700 feet
above sea level on 30 and 40-degree slopes in rugged terrain that sees upward of
100 inches of rain in the winter. The pricetag on the project, originally $150 million, is
closing in on $230 millionOregon's Department of Transportation issued a default notice Friday to the Eddyville.-based contractor in a stalled U.S. 20 improvement project.
ODOT claims that Yaquina River Constructors has failed to fulfill the design-build construction project, also known as the Pioneer Mountain to Eddyville Project, intended to improve a winding stretch of the highway between Corvallis and the coast.
According to a five-page, 26-point letter, ODOT accused Yaquina River Constructors of missing deadlines to complete roadway, bridges and landslide mitigation, performing defective work, ignoring its own specifications and effectively abandoning the project.
"Despite the Contract Amount having been substantially increased from $129,900,000 over the course of the Project, and ODOT's payment of and YRC's receipt of over $173,000,000 to date, the Project remains materially incomplete and fundamentally defective. YRC has failed to timely present any concrete prospects or plans for eventual completion," says the letter.
View full sizeMore
Work on the project, the last significant unimproved section of U.S. 20 between Newport and the Willamette Valley, began in 2005, with an original 2009 target completion date.
But the project was delayed by the 2006 discovery of ancient landslides in the area, which stopped construction for nearly two years. Work resumed that year with landslide mitigation, which ODOT said failed.
State engineers got their first hint of trouble when contractors discovered “bents,” or bridge columns, on two massive bridges had moved out of plumb because of the settling. If the bents continued to move, they could fail.
As they monitored the earth around the bents, engineers discovered that ancient landslides they thought they had stopped were inexplicably moving again.
There are four bridges under construction in the slide area, all but one showing damage.
The stretch of highway is notoriously dangerous, with sharp, narrow curves and a high volume of tractor-trailer traffic, so deadly that some locals have sported bumper stickers imploring, “Pray for me, I drive Highway 20.”