Highway 20 west of the Sheep Creek Bridge near Williams Lake will not reopen this weekend following Monday’s washout.
Regional Manager with the Ministry Of Transportation and Infrastructure (MOTI) Todd Hubner says it is not for lack of effort of everyone’s part and that there are contractors working around the clock.
He says unfortunately, they ran into an unforeseeable amount of ground water that they’re having to manage.
“Groundwater at this particular site is a real challenge given that a lot of materials at the embankment were originally built out of silty clays and silty sands, and when water is introduced to that material it really loses strength quickly and literally just flows.”
Hubner says the first step in rebuilding the embankment is to manage that water, and that once they’ve got that under control then they can proceed with the actual construction.
#BCHwy20 repairs continue. Groundwater is a big culprit (as you can see). Est opening late next week https://t.co/2ZQMeRHsG1 #WilliamsLake pic.twitter.com/wLwIKg2nmX
— BC Transportation (@TranBC) June 23, 2017
He says the detour via Soda Creek Road, Buckskin Road, West Fraser (South) Road, Chilcotin Meldrum Road to Highway 20 remains in place and is functioning well.
“We recognize that we are approaching the (Williams Lake) Stampede and that’s a very special time of year for this area so we’re working with those special groups as well as the logging industry; we’ve just come out of breakup and we recognize that their mill inventories are quite low at this point. It’s a balancing act that we’re endeavoring to address here and it remains our goal to get this highway open as quickly as possible.”
Further information on Highway 20 as well as the latest driving conditions across the province can be found online at DriveBC.
– with files from Rebecca Dyok, My Cariboo Now