In April 1983, the small town of Thistle, Utah, was buried by one of the most destructive landslides in state history. Water filled the canyon, homes were lost, and a major highway that connected central and southern Utah was cut off without warning. Communities were isolated overnight, and the stakes were high.
The State of Utah needed a solution. They needed speed, skill, and a team who would not quit when conditions grew difficult. They called W.W. Clyde & Co.
Under the leadership of Paul Clyde, crews went to work on what became one of the most demanding emergency rebuilds in company history. The original highway could not be salvaged, so a new route was carved over Billies Mountain. The terrain was unstable. Slides continued. Snow came early. Every day brought a new challenge.
Still, the crew pressed forward. At peak operation, they moved up to 70,000 cubic yards of earth per day. Equipment ran around the clock. Operators worked carefully on steep slopes where a single mistake could be costly. The work was physically and mentally taxing, but the mission was clear: restore access and restore it before winter fully set in.
By the end of the season, the road opened once again. Families could travel. Commerce resumed. Communities reconnected. It was a defining moment, and not because of speed or quantity of material moved, but because the team delivered exactly what they promised.
For Clyde Companies, the Thistle rebuild stands as proof of who we are.
We finish what we start. We do what we say we will do. Our word is our bond.
That is the Clyde difference, then and now.
A century strong and still in motion.
