Flatiron to start work on $60M second phase of Ten Mile Slide stabilization project along B.C.’s Hwy. 99
By On-Site Staff
Construction Roads
Approximately 300 metres long and 200 metres wide, the area known as Ten Mile Slide contains about one million cubic metres of unstable rock and soil. PHOTO: Government of B.C.
LILLOOET, B.C.—Construction is scheduled to get underway shortly on a short stretch of highway the British Columbia government describes as “one of the most technically challenging” sites to maintain in the province.
Approximately 300 metres long and 200 metres wide, the area known as Ten Mile Slide along Highway 99 between Kamloops and Lillooet, contains about one million cubic metres of unstable rock and soil.
The slow-moving slide has caused the highway to be shut down periodically since the 1980s. In 2016, for instance, the route was closed for more than a week and emergency work required when “accelerated” slide activity created major cracks in the road. To maintain the road, the province spends between $240,000 and $2.3 million each year.
The latest project is designed to permanently stabilize Hwy. 99 through the area by installing some 200 soil anchors above the highway and installing tied-back concrete and composite piles below the highway.
The province has awarded the $60 million contract for the project to Flatiron Constructors Canada Ltd., which will carry out the work over the next three years.
While construction is scheduled to wrap up by spring 2021, Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure staff plan to observe the highway for two years before paving the two-lane road.
