Contractor crews with Pacific Blasting and Demolition started blasting work on SR 503 east of Woodland today.
This blast is the first of a series of blasts to remove a 20 million-pound rock slab above the highway.
LiDAR technology shows the massive slab continues to move, making it unsafe below. Crews will continue working in a top down approach to stabilize the hillside.
Crews will remove loose debris from Thursday’s blast and inspect the area. They are identifying fracture points in the hillside to develop follow-up blasting strategies. They will prepare the site for more blasting, currently scheduled for next week.
It is still too soon to tell when the highway will reopen.