PennDOT continues work to stabilize area around Moon Township landslide

MOON TOWNSHIP, Pa. — Work is underway to save what’s left of several yards in the Sonoma Ridge development after January’s landslide that poured onto Beaver Grade Road in Moon Township.

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Crews are in the process of placing 10,000 tons of rock at the bottom of a slope as part of Phase One of remediation efforts. It’s been an ongoing nightmare for several homeowners on Stags Leap Lane, who told Channel 11 previously they’ve lost 10 to 15 feet off their backyards.

“As soon as this landslide occurred, we jumped into action,” said Shane Szalankiewicz, PennDOT District 11 Bridge Engineer.

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PennDOT crews worked to stabilize the land surrounding this steep drop-off, building a buttress to help remediate the area. Once that’s in place, they’ll move on to Phase 2.

“We’re waiting on these micropiles. What those are – steel casings that are drilled into the ground, into bedrock, into good bedrock, into something that’s going to be able to hold that,” Szalankiewicz said.

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Those steel casings will be filled with concrete to reinforce the buttress – the best plan of action, according to PennDOT and its contractors, following a sub-surface investigation into what may have caused this to happen.

“What we have in this area are called redbeds. In a dry condition, it’s like regular rock, but when it gets introduced to moisture, that bedrock wants to break down and become slippery.”

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PennDOT says that claystone bedrock, combined with heavy rains in late January, could have triggered the slide. And beaver grade road has been shut down ever since – a major artery between Moon and Robinson Townships. PennDOT has previously said the road could reopen by late summer, but that timeline may vary based on several factors.

“All we can do is press forward and try to remediate it as quickly as possible,” said Szalankiewicz.

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