Erosion in some areas along the Highway 97 four-laning project just south of Williams Lake was more extensive than originally anticipated, resulting in some adjustments in the design, the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure confirmed Tuesday.
“There were ground conditions - glacial lake materials - that were identified prior to construction. It is likely that the loss of vegetation from the fires greatly increased slope failure areas,” a spokesperson for the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure told the Tribune.
While the overall project design remains the same, there have been additional engineering features added to address and fix the slope-erosion areas, the spokesperson added.
Site Superintendent Earl McLeod, with Cantex Okanagan Construction Ltd., said crews will be doing everything in their power to complete the 6.6-kilometre project this fall.
Four new barriers are part of the design to protect the slopes, but they cannot be installed until two layers of pavement have been put in, he said.
Responding to criticisms made by readers on the Tribune’s Facebook page that the project is taking too long, McLeod said the public does not see all the work that has been done underground.
“For instance, around Lexington and Sutton a lot of work was done under the pavement, under the existing highway and under new grades that has to be completed before we can finish those grades,” he explained. “It shouldn’t be a shock to anybody that a project this big will impact travel in and out of a centre like Williams Lake, especially with the volumes of traffic that go over this road any given day.”
McLeod said delays last Friday, Sept. 21, were a “little bit of a mess for sure.”
“Other than Friday, people have been relatively able to move through the site.”
On Monday there were 61 people working at the site, while the work force fluctuates between 57 to 80.
“By the end of the week we will be upwards of 80 people on site. We have to be finished by the end of this year and the only thing that is going to be a stopper for us is weather.
“We have no interest in being here next year, I can tell you that.”
During the night, transport trucks and other vehicles have travelled through at speeds as high as 100 km/h so the project is continually losing the orange flexible markers placed to indicate the route.
“The delineators are 30 metres apart on the straight stretches and 25 metres apart on the corners and some corners we even increased them. We show up in the morning some days and we’ve lost 30 or 40 of them.”
McLeod said they’ve asked for police support and the RCMP have been attending during the daylight.
“As soon as the lights go out everybody picks up the speeds and they do not care. It’s the normal on highway projects, yet this is a great project for the Williams Lake area. It’s a big project. It’s not just us grading in road, it’s big fills, big excavations, big underground civil works that have been done. It all takes time.”
Twenty of his crew members are from out of town that haven’t been home for a month and have worked 30 days straight.
“Everybody here has been putting in an effort to get this project done so the comments from the public are hard on my crew. They are out there in the rain and the mud and doing everything they do and the people who this job benefits, just throw mud in their faces. I’m not making excuses for the way the project has gone, but we do intend to have the project done, even if it means impacting people and their travelling to get it completed.”
Read more: 2017 wildfires delay Highway 97 four-laning project
The ministry spokesperson confirmed the contractor is normally required to adhere to the local regional district’s bylaws restricting work from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. and no work on Sundays and holidays.
There have also been extended times, such as during spring snow melt, when many activities are restricted. However, variances to the hours of work are often granted to allow construction schedules to be met.
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