By SUE RYAN
News staff writer
August 30, 2007

The last of emergency repair work to fix damages from last winter is being completed this summer on Mount Hood.

The Oregon Department of Transportation contracted with Tri-State Construction of Portland to replace 13 culverts at a cost of $1.3 million.

The culvert work is just part of the $5.8 million spent in repairing the White River Bridge, rebuilding the road and more.

“It’s not the permanent, long-term solution to water and debris coming down the mountain,” said Mike Mason, ODOT spokesman. “We recognize that emergencies are going to happen and there needs to be a long-term solution.”

The agency received $47 million in emergency relief funds from the Federal Highway Administration in January 2007.

Mason said any permanent fix to continued problems with slides off Mount Hood and Highway 35 would first involve an environmental assessment process that could last up to 18 months.

Culverts are being installed under the road between the White River at milepost 61 and the East Fork of the Hood River at milepost 78.

One of the most extensive installations will require shutting down the highway for three days.

“We need to close to put in a particularly deep culvert, which requires a lot of digging,” Mason said. “Unfortunately with the Iron Creek closure there is no detour.”