RUSH RUN Work is set to begin soon on the $22 million landslide repair project along state Route 7 near Rush Run, the Ohio Department of Transportation reported.
ODOT's contractor, Beaver Excavating Co. of Canton, will begin mobilizing equipment to the site next week.
State Route 7 has been reduced to one lane in each direction, in the lanes farthest from the hillside, between Rayland and Brilliant since a landslide occurred in March 2011.
ODOT District 11 Deputy Director Lloyd MacAdam said, "We will permanently fix this hillside to eliminate the landslide hazard caused when excess precipitation charged an abandoned underground mine, causing a blowout, and the saturated soils to slide down the hill."
Physical work is expected to begin near the end of the month and include such things as construction of a protective wall 3,000 feet long on the shoulder of the roadway, development of a waste area for materials removed from the site and slope clearing, according to ODOT. Only minimal excavation is expected to happen before mid-November.
The traffic pattern through the work zone will remain the same.
Approximately 2 million cubic yards of material will be excavated to step back the slope, and about 46 million gallons of water will be removed from an abandoned mine, ODOT reported.
All major work is expected to be completed on this project by the fall of 2013; however, some cleanup work may be required in 2014, according to ODOT.
