Idaho State Highway Department crews managed yesterday to stay ahead of the tons of rock and dirt which are still gently sliding onto Highway 95 near Lucile.
“We got about half of it removed, but it’s still coming down,” Ralph M. Stone, Lewiston district maintenance supervisor said.
Crewmen will use high pressure water hoses today to clear loose rock from the hillside some 250 feet above the highway. The slide began Thursday. Highway officials said it was either caused by heavy rains or an earth tremor.
Stone said the highway will remain open to traffic. Flagmen at each end are halting traffic for 20 minutes to a half hour until a group of vehicles accumulate. They are all escorted through at the same time.
Working at the slide yesterday were two flagmen, two large loaders and a dozer. Stone said the flagmen are remaining on duty all night. C. B. Humphrey, Lewiston district assistant engineer, estimated Saturday it will be a week before the slide is cleared.
The slide is estimated to contain more than 25,000 cubic yards of rocks and dirt. Some of the rocks tumbling onto the highway measured a cubic yard.
Material being removed by crews is being dumped at the edge of the Salmon River. The slide area is 0.2 of a mile south of Lucile and 10 miles north Riggins.
This story was published in the Oct. 29, 1962, edition of the Lewiston Tribune.
