See remote-controlled bulldozers working on Big Sur slide high above Hwy. 1
Caltrans has released video of the remote-controlled equipment that has been deployed at the site of the Regent’s Slide on Highway 1.
The agency is using two remote-controlled bulldozers and one excavator, the agency said in a post on X.
“Crews have been working extended hours at Regent’s Slide, seven days a week as weather allows,” Caltrans spokesman Kevin Drabinski said Tuesday about the stubborn slide area about 27 miles north of the San Luis Obispo-Monterey county line.
The new, sophisticated remote-controlled Caterpillar D8 bulldozers allow crews to work in areas of the active slide that are unsafe for manned equipment. They can operate the machines from a station inside a trailer or using a mobile controller.
The video shows the equipment working at the top of the slide, high above Highway 1.
The bulldozers can be seen working side by side, pushing the dirt from the back of the slide toward the tip.
Drabinski called attention to two men working closely to one of the machines. A seated man uses a remote controller to guide the driverless D8, while another worker standing nearby acts as a “spotter,” watching for potential problems.
“In many of our other projects, the public drives by every day,” Drabinski said. “We’re excited to share the video showing our work at Regent’s Slide,” which is in an area that’s closed to the public.
There’s still no estimated date for reopening the slide area. Because of the Regent’s Slide and other land slippages and slides along that stretch of Highway 1, since January 2023, people have been unable to travel from Cambria through to Carmel on the scenic, All-American Byway.
