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Crews continuing to clear rock north of Summerland

Site has had no movement for the past eight days
15677268_web1_190103-KCN-Rockslide

Crews are continuing to clear the rock slide on Highway 97 north of Summerland, but the a detour remains in place at the site of the slide.

Representatives from the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure say site monitoring has shown no new rock movement over the past eight days.

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As a result, excavators are able to continue breaking and pulling down rock.

“Our progress will largely depend on how much drilling and blasting we have to do,” a ministry statement read. “As we continue to remove material and expose the slope, we expect to come across bigger sections of rock needing to be drilled and blasted, as excavators won’t be able to break it down. If there are no further challenges — like severe weather or slide movement — we are hoping to restore traffic to the highway by the end of next week.”

Between 10 and 20 people are working on the slide site.

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The Callan Road detour remains in place and is open 24 hours a day, with occasional stoppages for blasting work.

Since the hauling began on Feb. 26, between 3,500 and 4,000 cubic metres of material have been hauled from the site.

The material is being hauled to the Bentley Pit, a few kilometres south of the slide area.

The slide occurred on the evening of Jan. 31 and the road was closed beginning Feb. 2.

So far, the ministry has spent more than $500,000 on all the work related to this slide, including the construction of the Callan Road detour.

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John Arendt

About the Author: John Arendt

John Arendt has worked as a journalist for more than 30 years. He has a Bachelor of Applied Arts in Journalism degree from Ryerson Polytechnical Institute.
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