09/23/2026
Highway 116 east of Monte Rio: where things actually stand.
We have heard from a lot of you about this job, so here is a straight update.
Where we are now
We are in the middle of building the soil nail wall. Per Caltrans, the method works like this: crews drill holes deep into the hillside, insert soil nails that are grouted in place and post-tensioned to grip the surrounding earth, and the nail heads then anchor a wall of shotcrete sprayed onto the face of the slope.
The wall is built from the top down. That is why there is a large dirt bench on site. Our drilling subcontractor, Drill Tech, works off it to reach the hillside, and we take it down gradually as the wall moves down the slope. The bench is at its highest point right now.
The first stage of the job was traffic switching which is done.
Why is it taking longer than planned?
We aimed to finish in one construction season. Two things changed that.
Weather. We have lost roughly 60 workdays, including a winter suspension Caltrans imposed through January and February.
The hillside kept eroding. As the slope moved further, Caltrans added additional nails above the planned design height. Caltrans owns and designs this project, so that redesign reset our plan, and ordering the extra nails brought material lead time delays on top of it.
Work now continues into 2027, with traffic control expected to come off once the wall is complete.
"Nothing seems to be happening out there"
That was true to look at, early on. We were correcting the drainage at the top of the slope, which you cannot see from a passing car. The drainage is the reason this project exists: it had been leaking, and the water eroded the hillside until it slid. Caltrans' geologists and hydrologists had flagged the soil conditions on that side of the road for years, and the damaged culvert added to the urgency.
The soil nail work happening now is visible from the road.
The river
The Russian River is right below us, and we treat it that way. We have put substantial money into best management practices on this site. Every time rain is forecast, we stop work and cover the hillside, which takes three to four days on its own. GBI hired its own stormwater consultant who inspects weekly and tests the water quality during storm events. The regional water board is also monitoring the river independently.
The light
This is the complaint we hear most, and it is the fair one. We understand it. The road cannot reopen to two lanes until the wall is finished. Caltrans' public information officer has been in contact with local first responders about the closure, and our crews flag emergency vehicles through as quickly as traffic allows.
What to watch for
When the big dirt stockpile starts getting hauled away, we are getting close. That will happen slowly over the next several months.
Thank you, Monte Rio. We know this has been a long one
