Sun Road's rehab celebrated

Forbes magazine recently described the Going-to-the-Sun Road in Glacier National Park as “America’s most savage and beautiful road.”

In June 2007, Don Herne traveled the road as an employee of HK Contractors, the company preparing to tackle the audacious rehabilitation of one of the nation’s most iconic byways.

Herne, who was project manager, said he wondered, “What did I get myself into?”

On Thursday, Herne joined other speakers at the St. Mary Visitor Center to celebrate the completion of the 12-year rehab of a steep, narrow road that is jammed during the fleeting construction season with tourist vehicles.

“It was a memorable project,” he said. “I’m glad I was part of it.”

His voice caught as he addressed a crowd of about 90 people.

Herne explained later that the emotion surged when he realized the project was truly finished.

The work had hinged on partnerships, speakers said Thursday, with the main players being the Federal Highway Administration, the National Park Service and HK Contractors.

Ed Hammontree of the highway administration said Thursday that project costs totaled between $150 million and $200 million, depending on how the work was divided up, with five different types of funding.

The reconstruction included work on retaining walls, arches, bridges and tunnels, drainage, slope stability, pavement, transit system enhancements and much more.

One innovative approach to vehicle safety emerged in response to damage suffered during winters to traditional guardrail systems from avalanches. Engineers developed a removable, crash-tested, log guardrail system. These log guardrails, installed in defined avalanche zones, can be removed in fall and re-installed in spring to avoid avalanche damage.

In addition, numerous trailheads were upgraded or reconstructed. Stone masonry retaining walls were reconstructed or re-pointed. Two historic tunnels and 19 bridges were rehabilitated.

Efforts were made to retain the historic character of structures during rehabilitation.

Fourteen transit stops were added for the park shuttle operation, a service becoming increasingly important as park visitation increases.

Herne said Thursday that “public traffic” was the biggest challenge faced during a construction project that included a host of other unique wrinkles, including the steep terrain and the tight weather window for work.

He said traffic pressures could limit worker productivity to just 10 or 15 minutes an hour.

Jeff Mow, superintendent of Glacier National Park, expressed admiration during Thursday’s celebration for the ability of HK Contractors and its numerous sub-contractors to cope with the park’s “three-ring-circus” in summer.

“Record levels of visitation have become the operational challenge, day-to-day,” Mow said.

Thursday’s event began with descendants of the Blackfeet who once lived, hunted and gathered in what is now Glacier National Park.

Treyace Yellow Owl offered a blessing. Arlen Sharp and Austin Bear Medicine drummed and sang a traditional Blackfeet song.

Yellow Owl said her great-great grandparents would sing and dance for Glacier National Park tourists during the years visitors arrived by train — before construction of the Going-to-the-Sun Road.

The 50-mile road was dedicated on July 15, 1933, after more than 12 years of engineering and construction.

By the mid-1990s, the National Park Service and Federal Highway Administration were concerned that the road’s structural features were in such disrepair that the road might have to be closed to visitor traffic.

This sobering realization was the impetus for the planning effort that began years ago and resulted ultimately in the just completed rehabilitation project.

Mow lauded that achievement Thursday.

“We’ve created a legacy for the next hundred years,” he said.

Reporter Duncan Adams may be reached at dadams@dailyinterlake.com or 758-4407.