WYDOT and contractor Ames Construction are working nonstop to rebuild a collapsed section of Wyoming Highway 22 under Teton Pass. The project involves drilling supports into mountain slope bedrock, using foam glass aggregate fill, and implementing drainage systems. Permanent repairs are expected by July 2025.
Photo courtesy of the Wyoming Department of Transportation
An overhead view of the construction work near Teton Pass.
The Wyoming Department of Transportation and contractor Ames Construction of Casper, Wyo., are working nonstop to rebuild a section of Wyoming Highway 22 beneath Teton Pass that collapsed in June, the Cowboy State Daily reported.
Those crews will continue working in 24-hour shifts on the "Big Fill" until winter weather shelves the work until spring. Ski resorts in the area receive 400 to more than 500 in. of snow each year, according to the Ames Construction website. The project sits at elevations ranging from 7,600 ft. to 7,710 ft.
Photo courtesy of the Wyoming Department of Transportation
"The goal is to continue until the weather does not allow them to work anymore, which we're going to guess is going to be mid- to late-December," John Eddins, district engineer of WYDOT District 3, told Cowboy State Daily. "They'll suspend operations and start again as early as possible in the spring, finish the project and set the completion date for the project."
Permanent repairs are expected to be completed by the end of July 2025. After the mountainside beneath the roadway collapsed on June 8, 2024, a detour road was opened three weeks later. WYDOT determined that the mountainside collapse was caused by rapid melting of the spring snowpack, saturating the existing fill.
Eddins told the Cowboy State Daily that the $40 million project will keep the highway in its original footprint, have a 75-year design life and meet stability requirements.
The first phase of the Teton Pass project included drilling new supports into the mountain slope bedrock.
"We've drilled and set a whole series of micropiles, which are steel pipes that are set into the bedrock a certain depth on a 15-foot grid," Eddins told the Cowboy State Daily. "Once those piles were set in bedrock, they were capped with a 3-by-3-ft. concrete block. That's what stabilizes and supports the weight of the fill."
Ames Construction is placing lightweight foam glass aggregate fill across the construction area. A system of baskets gives the fill added stability.
Eddins told the Cowboy State Daily that WYDOT is placing as much "reinforced fill" as it can before winter to provide added stability next spring during the mountain runoff.
Drainage also is of importance, Eddins said.
"As we're reinforcing the foundation, we're putting in drain systems to keep the water from building up in the fill," he told the Cowboy State Daily. "We've incorporated horizontal drains to keep the water from building up in the field, as well as a sheet drain behind the field to drain water."
Eddins said the design directly responds to the road failure.
Eddins told the Cowboy State Daily that the state has moved quickly and efficiently in response to the problem.
Photo courtesy of the Wyoming Department of Transportation
"We had the detour built and traffic on a paved two-lane road just under 27 days," he said. "Then, we got the contract plans, specification and everything together to develop this design in a matter of months and then got to work on it.
"I've worked for departments since 1988, so I've seen a lot of things similar to this. But this was a textbook response, and I'm very proud of what we've done."
WYDOT crews and Evans Construction of Hoback, Wyo., built the detour road featuring "a paved roadway with two 12-ft. lanes, one in each direction," according to the WYDOT website. "The detour also will have concrete barriers protecting motorists from any hazards. The detour has been constructed on the interior of the curve, away from the unstable slide area. In addition, crews are using quality material to build a solid foundation for the road.
"Geologists are also mapping the site to confirm there are better native soils under the roadway. Crews have taken material off the old embankment and used it as some of the detour fill, which will relieve the driving forces that are pushing on the slide. However, the detour will create a slightly sharper curve and steeper grade."
WYDOT also awarded an $880,600 contract over the summer to Avail Valley Construction of Victor, Idaho, to improve drainage 2 mi. from the Big Fill, where a mudslide closed Wyoming 22. Avail Valley built a box culvert at the slide area to improve drainage, according to the WYDOT website.
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