The Christina Lake slide on Highway 3 will likely bottle-neck traffic until Wednesday evening, Feb. 16, according to the highway contractor Yellowhead Road and Bridge (YRB).
Operations manager Greg McNeil said the northbound lane will remain open to single-land alternating traffic on either side of East Lake Drive. Motorists can expect up to 20-minute delays during peak hours, he said.
READ MORE: Rock slide shuts down Highway 3 near Christina Lake
YRB crews made significant headway after the slide covered a 20-metre section of road early last Wednesday, Feb. 9, but were set back by a second, smaller slide Wednesday night, McNeil said.
Specially trained “rock scalers” from Vancouver had to clear loose rock above the slide over the Feb. 11-13 weekend. It fell to them to climb onto the giant boulder, which they split by hand. Site conditions didn’t allow for jack hammering, McNeil continued.
Another big slide is unlikely, according to a preliminary analysis by a geotechnical engineer who surveyed the slide last Wednesday.
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laurie.tritschler@grandforksgazette.ca
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laurie.tritschler@boundarycreektimes.com
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