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The Idaho Transportation Department is pausing efforts to install a new containment system to capture any future fluids that may be released from heavy equipment that fell into Lake Coeur d’Alene near Higgens Point decades ago.

In February the department had hired a specialized contractor to design a new containment system. To design the system, ITD deployed divers underwater and initiated several types of imaging to determine the precise location of the equipment.

“We weren’t able to identify the exact location of the dozer to the point we would be able to place the new system,” Emergency Response Coordinator Chris Williams said. “Due to poor visibility under 90 feet of water, the historic landslide that buried the equipment, and the presence of heavy metals that make imaging ineffective, at this time we have decided to put our plans on hold.”

The equipment has not leaked fluids since December. After Memorial Day, ITD removed absorbent booms on the lake’s surface.

“With more boaters out on the water, maintaining these booms was not feasible or cost-effective,” Williams said.

ITD is working with the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality to determine next steps and implement a monitoring program.

New plans underway for cleanup of leaking dozer in Lake Coeur d’Alene

February 24, 2023

The Idaho Transportation Department has hired a contractor to design and build a new containment system to capture leaking petroleum products from a dozer that fell into Lake Coeur d’Alene during the construction of I-90 decades ago.

Associated Underwater Services out of Spokane is now drawing plans for a stainless steel hood that will encase the dozer, which is buried in rock and under about 90 feet of water, to prevent diesel and other fluids from contaminating the lake.

Once designed the hood will be built on the shore of the lake and could be in place as early as June. In the meantime, ITD will monitor the site and leave booms in the water to absorb any leaks.

“The hood will capture any leaks and is expected to be forty feet long by forty feet wide,” Emergency Response Coordinator Chris Williams said. “That’s a lot of stainless steel, and getting our hands on that material will be a challenge.”

The hood is similar to previous containment systems implemented since the dozer, as well as a scraper, fell into the lake in 1990. Earlier systems also used protective membranes to funnel any escaping fluids to a device where it could be emptied and replaced.

The latest leak was noticed in December and likely a result of a boat anchor disturbing the protective membrane and allowing diesel to be released to the surface. Both membranes will be removed, and the hood will be built large enough to completely cover the buried the dozer. Fluids will be trapped in the hood, which will have a containment vessel to monitor and empty when needed.

“We are committed to protecting the lake, which likely include several more years of monitoring and maintaining the hood,” Williams said.

Other options like removal of the equipment were considered with partner agencies like the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality but dismissed due to the risk of affecting the rockslide area and the potential harm to staff and the environment.

Diesel leaking from dozer at the bottom of Lake Coeur d’Alene

December 27, 2022

During the construction of I-90, two pieces of equipment fell into Lake CDA near Higgens Point and were unable to be recovered.

Contractor Scarsella Brothers, Inc., was placing fill in the lake in May 1990 to provide a base for an interchange at Higgens Point when the ground unexpectedly gave away, dumping a Caterpillar 631 scraper and a D-9 dozer and their operators into the water.

Both operators survived, but the dozer and scraper were barely visible and under about 90 feet of water.

ITD, the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality and several other agencies considered next steps. The tank of the scraper was able to be drained due to how it landed, but the dozer was inaccessible. State and federal agencies agreed that retrieval methods were too risky—both in terms of risk to personnel and to the stability of the slope underwater—and decided to abandon the equipment.

The proposed interchange was cancelled and replaced with plans for a parking lot.

THE FIRST LEAK

The dozer did not appear to leak product until 2000, when a sheen was noticed and determined to be coming from the dozer.

Booms were put in place to contain and capture the product, and ITD hired an engineering firm, CH2M Hill, to analyze field conditions and recommend options to resolve the current leak and capture future releases.

Seven options were put forth and evaluated for effectiveness, feasibility and cost. Both options to remove either the fuel tank from the dozer or the entire machine were rejected due to danger to personnel, the possibility of triggering a slide or the risk of releasing more product through recovery efforts.

ITD and DEQ opted for subsurface containment and collection. In 2001 a specially designed stainless steel hood was built and installed to cover the release site and capture any releases in a canister that could be emptied safely by divers. In 2002 a protective membrane was added to partially cover the dozer and further funnel product into the hood.

Eventually with no product coming to the surface, the booms were removed.

THE SECOND LEAK

Another leak in 2010 led to the removal of the hood, which needed maintenance, and was replaced with a larger membrane and a simple catchment system to receive and absorb any product.

That system remained in place, with no leaks detected until 2022.

CURRENT EFFORTS

Late December 7, ITD was notified of product coming to the surface in the general vicinity of the relic equipment.

The department placed floating booms to both contain the suspected diesel leak from the dozer and protect the shoreline. Dives determined that the equipment was still buried but that the older, first protective membrane had been disturbed, likely after being caught by a boat anchor. The other membrane looked to be intact.

ITD is again working with DEQ to pursue a specialized contractor to implement a quick and minimally invasive solution to capture and contain the leak. Once contained future, more permanent projects may be considered and developed.

Construction on U.S. Highway 95 in Bonners Ferry will enter a new stage next week, with paving set to begin on June 19.

For two weeks crews will pave the northbound lane between Alderson Lane and Labrosse Hill Street. Work will be done without changing impacts to traffic; one lane will be open in each direction. However, access to businesses will be temporarily restricted as crews pave in front of driveways.

Once paving is complete, traffic will be shifted onto the new northbound lane, and crews will start rebuilding the southbound lane. This marks the halfway point of the season with work set to finish by mid-October.

After the construction the highway will feature two lanes with a consistent center turn lane, wider shoulders, sidewalks and lighting.

The intersection of Pine Island and US-95 will be closed until all work is complete with traffic detoured to Mirror Lake Road and Riverside Street. In late July crews will adjust the detour to make it easier for larger agricultural equipment to travel on the detour.

Learn more about corridor construction that first began in 2018 at itdprojects.org/us95bonnersferry.

Yesterday (June 5) a long-awaited project to improve safety on State Highway 53 near Hauser was awarded a $36 million grant, which could move construction up several years.

The project includes closing three at-grade railroad crossings and building a new interchange at Pleasant View Road and SH-53. About 46 train movements are recorded at the crossings each day.

“When the highway is blocked by trains, it cuts off communities on the prairie and potentially delays emergency services,” Engineering Manager Marvin Fenn said. “This project will make it safer for everyone by carrying cars up and over train traffic at one consolidated point at Pleasant View. Traffic will no longer be blocked, and trains won’t have to blow their horns when passing through.”

The department is evaluating the conditions of the grant as well as ongoing and future projects on SH-53 to determine how early construction of this two-year project can start.

“We had been planning to build it starting in 2028, but now we’re looking to build it much sooner,” Fenn said.

Download a rendering of the new design.

Funding comes from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Railroad Administration. Project partners include the BNSF Railway and the Post Falls Highway District with both entities contributing $3 million and $2 million respectively. ITD will contribute $4 million toward construction of the project. Construction is expected to total $45 million.

The project was first identified during a 2006 study called Bridging the Valley, which created a list of projects that would separate all vehicle traffic from train traffic along 42 miles of highway between Spokane, Washington, and Athol, Idaho.

Update: the project north of the SH-1 Junction will now start June 19 instead of June 12, and the project south of the SH-1 junction will now start June 21 instead of June 19. Check 511 for future schedule changes.

Two construction projects will start later this month on U.S. Highway 95 near Copeland.

The first project begins Monday, June 12, and will sealcoat about 10 miles north of the State Highway 1 Junction. Work will take about three weeks, with only one lane of the highway open during the day while crews are on site. All lanes will be open at night when crews are not on site, but the speed limit will remain reduced to prevent windshield damage from driving too quickly over rocks.

Another work zone will be set up on Monday, June 19, south of the SH-1 Junction to resurface seven miles. Crews will work a mix of daytime and nighttime shifts. Traffic will be reduced to one lane and controlled by a pilot car while workers are on site. Construction is expected to last about two months.

There will be about five miles between the work zones. No work is expected during the week of July 4.

Travelers are reminded to check 511.idaho.gov for delays from construction and other activities.

This summer 11 signals on U.S. Highway 95 in Coeur d’Alene and Hayden will be upgraded, with work set to start tonight.

Construction will occur Sunday night through Thursday night between 8 p.m./9 p.m. and 5 a.m. Weekend work is possible and will generally start later at night to minimize impacts.

The project will focus on one intersection at a time, with work scheduled to take about one week per intersection. The contractor will start upgrades tonight at the signals for the I-90 ramps and generally move north throughout the summer to the signal at Lancaster Road.

As each intersection receives repairs at night, the signal will be shut off, and the highway will be reduced to one lane. Traffic on all intersecting roadways will be controlled by flaggers, but by 5 a.m. the signal will be functioning normally.

Some intersections will experience more significant impacts. Construction will affect the below intersections both night and day. Traffic already on US-95 will not be able to turn left off the highway, and traffic on the side street will only be able to turn right onto the highway. Drivers needing to turn left off US-95 can follow posted detours or make a U-turn at the next intersection.

• Neider Avenue in late June
• Dalton Avenue in late June
• Hanley Avenue in mid-July
• Honeysuckle Avenue in late July
• Hayden Avenue in early August
• Wyoming Avenue in mid-August
• Lancaster Road in late August

Upgrades include many safety features, like pre-emption devices that will allow emergency services providers to trigger green lights when responding to calls or backup power that will ensure signals at the busiest intersections will stay lit during long outages.

“Over the last several years, we have seen extended power outages,” Project Manager Breanna Logerwell said. “When our signals lose power, they eventually go into flash mode, or each direction gets a flashing red or yellow light to stop or to yield. Some of these intersections see almost 60,000 vehicles a day, so that kind of stop-and-go situation creates significant congestion and can be a major safety concern if drivers don’t realize they’re not operating like normal.”

Many of the signals on US-95 have been in place more than 30 years, and the systems that detect traffic and send information to the signals have largely not been updated since before 2010.

“For those drivers who feel like the signal rotation skips them, this will solve that,” Logerwell said. “We’ll have the latest technology to detect traffic and optimize overall flow in the corridor.”

The project is expected to take about four months. A specialized consultant has been hired to develop a new timing plan for the signals after the upgrades are complete.

For live traffic impacts and to know the timing of construction at each intersection, visit 511.idaho.gov.