And the job wasn't done yet.

Still, work crews hoped to have the road fully open by May 13, said DOT's Rick Feller.

Passengers board the train to Whittier May 10. The Alaska Railroad offered Whittier commuters free rides after a massive rock slide blocked the road to the community April 11. The state Department of Transportation spent $1.8 million to clear the debris as of May 11. Photo/Maree Shogren/AJOC

"We only have one lane open so far, so to facilitate the crews working to clear, we have to close the road," said Feller. "We have a big push on with the first cruise ship coming in on May 15, and with the run of the Copper River red salmon."

The road to Whittier closed April 11 after a massive rockslide left a 300-foot-wide, and as high as 30-foot tall pile of rocks, gravel and snow.

Crews have worked round the clock since the Saturday slide.

"They said they would have the road open by Tuesday after the Saturday rockslide. But as you can see, it is taking longer than they thought," said Tim Thompson, spokesperson for the Alaska Railroad.

The railroad is offering free passenger service to Whittier for those who need to go back and forth until the road is officially opened.

During the cleanup efforts, work crews uncovered several boulders the size of small buildings. They had to use explosives to blast those away.

They managed to open a small swath, allowing for limited road openings.

The road will be open twice a day,. There will be an opening from 5 a.m. to 7 a.m. and from 7:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. until the road is fully cleared.

Feller said DOT had to contract out the clean up due to a need for larger equipment, thus adding to the costs.

"This is largely a contractor job, because of the size of the rocks, they were too big for our equipment," said Feller.

Rob Stapleton can be reached at robert.stapleton@alaskajournal.com.