Conditions are so dangerous, transportation officials decided to bring in a remote-control excavator and dozers this spring to help rebuild part of Highway 1 near Big Sur that was damaged by a landslide in February 2024 and again in August.
Caltrans District 5 is overseeing the rebuild project, which includes the use of a Caterpillar D8 and a D8T dozer and a Cat excavator – all operated from a trailer 1,000 feet away.
(To watch the remote-control equipment in action, check out the Caltrans videos at the end of this article.)
The agency says it introduced the Cat Command equipment in spring to increase production and protect worker’s safety at the Regent’s Slide, “where crews are challenged by the slide’s height, steepness and instability.”
Caterpillar trained crew on the equipment, which is operated from specially designed stations with seat, joysticks, foot pedals and large screens designed to virtually put the operator in the machine’s cab. The equipment can also be operated within line of sight using shoulder-harnessed remote control.
Caterpillar rolled out Cat Command in 2021, starting with wheel loaders, then adding dozers, excavators, skid steers and compact track loaders. Its stated uses included situations like the Regent’s Slide, steep slopes where workers aren’t safe.
Crews were able to use the remote-control dozers and excavator in the treacherous conditions – along with traditional heavy equipment in safer spots – for about a month. They had to stop in May, however, when new slide activity and surface cracking in the slope immediately above the project area was discovered, according to Caltrans District 5. The earthmoving equipment has been halted since, while crews install dozens of 60-foot-long steel bars called shear dowels into the slope above the work area to try to stabilize it.
“Crews installing shear dowels are working seven days a week and extended hours,” District 5 reported May 21. “It is anticipated that excavation activities will resume using traditional and remote equipment in the upcoming weeks once the shear dowel installation has been completed and monitoring equipment and site conditions indicate that it is once again safe to do so.”
To watch Cat Command equipment in action, check out the Caltrans District 5 video below:
To see what it’s like to operate from the Cat Command station, watch this Caltrans District 5 video in the bottom right corner of the post:
