Whitman County Gazette - Serving Whitman County since 1877

Springs found on the dirt hills of the Almota Road project last week slowed down the ahead-of-schedule road-expansion as heavy equipment works in mud, hauling and placing basalt rock to form the base of the widened road.

“The hill just starts weeping with all this water,” said Mark Storey, Public Works director. “Makes it hard to build.”

Giant bulldozers and scrapers were removing dirt, replacing it with shot rock – basalt rock blasted from a nearby quarry.

Because of the springs, M.A. DeAtley workers had to switch to track-hoes to bring in more rock versus scrapers, which would...