RC106 MayJune2023 - Magazine - Page 18
GLEN RUTHERFORD
– SENIOR PRINCIPAL GEOTECHNICAL ENGINEER
“Pulling up to this gigantic hole in the
highway was quite intimidating. The
sense of the enormity of this task became
apparent almost immediately, but the site team (including WSP) got to work right away. I was asked to assist
with the Falls Creek site (Jackass Summit) on Highway 1
(Trans-Canada Highway) just south of Lytton on November 19.
“The washout totally severed the Highway 1 access
south from Lytton towards Hope and to the rest of greater
Vancouver. The hole in the road was 25-metres deep and
80-metres wide. The road embankment (and pre-existing
culvert) was washed down towards the river, severely
impacting the CN Rail track at the bottom of the embankment, in addition to the damage it had done to the
highway.
“Our team worked with MoTI to determine geotechnical parameters toward re-establishing the creek channel,
identify what kind of earthworks might be possible from
a temporary basis, and provide foundation recommendations for the temporary Acrow bridge installed at the site.
“The actions taken by our rapid response team also
helped provide the preliminary dataset for a future permanent solution to the crossing.”
CHARLES CHATAWAY – LEAD ENGINEER, BRIDGES
“On November 22, I received the call to conduct inspections on numerous bridges within Service Area
7, which encompasses Silver Skagit, Chilliwack
Lake Road, and the Columbia Valley. The B.C. Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure (MoTI)
wanted to conduct a series of rapid structural evaluations, ensuring that every bridge structure in the
impacted area had been physically inspected.
“The next day we drove out Highway 7 to the
impacted area, as Highway 1 was under water
near Sumas Prairie. We travelled as far as we could
up Silver Skagit Road until we discovered it was
washed out. We performed preliminary road and
bridge/culvert/road assessments using the MoTI’s
emergency response app on the way. We were able
to visit several structures in the area that day to
provide a visual assessment of the damage.
“A few weeks later, on December 13, we returned to the Silver-Skagit Road area by helicopter
to fly the road past the washout we encountered.
We assessed the rest of the bridges and culverts
beyond where wheeled travel was limited.
“As a result of what we saw during our evaluation, we developed a high-level program to scope
the repairs—which were extensive.”
WSP
Planning for a quick response
What our team learned from the devastation of the
atmospheric rivers in B.C. was that the rapid deployment of an established emergency response plan is vital
to help reduce the human impacts of disasters. Finding
ways to safely access sites, conduct a thorough investigation of the damage, and quickly provide options for
temporary and permanent solutions is invaluable in
getting transportation routes re-opened. And in doing
so, we can ensure that people and goods move in and
out of the impacted areas to provide the support that is
desperately needed.
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RENEW CANADA – MAY/JUNE 2023
RENEWCANADA.NET
