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Crews work on clearing Route 30 landslide, officials talk progress

EAST PITTSBURGH, Pa. — Crews continue to work on the collapsed Route 30 after a landslide earlier this month forced the evacuation of dozens of residents and destroyed homes and an apartment building.

The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation allowed Channel 11 to go to the top of the construction site to get a better look and walked us through their plans.

In the coming days, a contractor will be selected and a 400-foot-long retaining wall will cut through where a house stands  and go behind the apartment building.

"Right now, the excavators are just removing dirt and creating a path for the future contractor to be able to access down below from up above here," said Cheryl Moon-Sirianni, PennDOT District 11 executive.

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PennDOT officials confirmed to Channel 11 that a bid package was put together in nine days and the department has already seen a lot of interest in the estimated $7 million project.

Contractors met on-site Wednesday morning and bids will be placed on Friday, in the hope that a contractor will start work this weekend or early next week.

PennDOT estimates the project will be completed by midsummer.

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The people who lived in the house on the hill below Route 30 are out and won't be returning.

Demolition is set to begin Thursday.

IIt's estimated that it will be six to eight weeks before those who lived in the Electric Avenue Apartments can return.

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"Because of where the wall is going to need to go, and the construction is going to be so close to those apartment buildings, they're not going to be able to get back into those apartment complexes until after the wall is built," Moon-Sirianni said.

While Channel 11 has been reporting on landslides across western Pennsylvania on what seems to be an almost daily basis, PennDOT officials said, because of the impact on residents and the traveling public, this is the department's top priority.

"When we're done here, we want to make sure we don't have another problem here ever again," Moon-Sirianni said.

PennDOT hopes drivers will be able to travel on Route 30 again by the end of June, but that depends on what the contractor finds once the project begins.

Allegheny County declared an emergency disaster to help officials respond to and clean up the damage caused by natural disasters.

Just this year, PennDOT has responded to more than 70 landslides in District 11.