Dave Whitlatch has spent the past 12 years of his career with PennDOT dealing with rock and mud slides in an area prone for slides.
But the district geotechnical engineer for the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation District 12 office in Uniontown said this has the worst year for mud and rock slides he has ever experienced.
Whitlatch said on average there are 50 slides each fall/winter season. He projected more than 100 slides will occur on state-maintained roads in Washington, Westmoreland, Fayette and Greene counties by spring.
The increase in slides is due to heavy rains. In 2004, the Pittsburgh region set a record for rainfall, culminated by a severe storm during the aftermath of Hurricane Ivan.
The region has experienced two years of above normal rainfall, including six inches of rain that fell in September as part of Ivan and four inches of rain that fell Jan. 5.
That most recent storm included flooding on Park Avenue in Monongahela, Bunola River Road from Forward Township to Elizabeth, Water Street in Belle Vernon, Vanceville Road in Ellsworth and Route 88 in Union Township, and Route 201 in Fayette City.
District 12 has had 13 roads completely closed due to landslides since Ivan. Five have been reopened, but there are lane restrictions at 125 locations and ground movement at 265 locations.
In Forward Township, PennDOT crews from the Allegheny County office have also been busy with several slides.
In December and January, as well as twice this week, slides occurred on Bunola River Road.
A lower-than-normal snowfall this winter has allowed state maintenance crews to concentrate on cleaning up roads after slides, Whitlatch said.
The federal government is paying for more than 80 percent of the cost of cleanup from the aftermath of Hurricane Ivan, Whitlatch said. But PennDOT has yet to determine how it will pay for the cost of cleanup from other slides.
Slides are nothing new to this region. This area is susceptible to slides because of the soil content, Whitlatch said. In addition, the more severe slopes prevalent in southwestern Pennsylvania in-crease the potential for slides, he added.
Pennsylvania pays the highest percentage of its transportation budget of any state for cleanup of slides.
Southwestern Pennsylvania is the most susceptible to slides of any region in the state, Whitlatch said.
The cleanup of slides is taxing local emergency crews, such as fire and police departments.
Bill Hess Sr., assistant chief of the Gallatin-Sunnyside Fire Department, said the 20-man department answered 27 calls in January, ranging from fires and accidents, to removing downed trees and cleanup of mud slides. The firefighters answer on average 10 calls a month, Hess said.
On Jan. 25-26 and Feb. 5 alone, Gallatin-Sunnyside firefighters put in 280 man hours cleaning up from a fly ash slide along Rostosky Ridge Ridge in the township.
"I'm fortunate," Hess said. "I have a dedicated group of people."
