The department may enter into major damage mitigation contracts to perform major damage repairs and operations on state highways when caused by sudden, unforeseen events such as storms, landslides, flooding, high surf, earthquakes or other geological action, or civil unrest. These contracts may be entered into prior to the onset of major damage in order to retain the contractor in readiness to respond to incidents as needed. Work performed under each contract shall be limited to physical construction, demolition, debris removal, and traffic control. The work shall be

considered, for funding purposes, as a public works construction project.