September 26, 2012

Highway shoulder collapse repaired

RICHARD GILBERT

staff writer

Crews have repaired a shoulder section of Highway 1 in Coquitlam, B.C., after excavation work for the twinning project caused an embankment to collapse.

“Crews were working on the highway last night (Sept. 20) between North Road and Brunette doing some excavation work, and some of the soil slid down the embankment,” said Max Logan, spokesperson for the Transportation Investment Corporation, which is a Crown corporation established to implement the Port Mann/Highway 1 Improvement Project.

“Construction crews are currently making repairs and doing slope stabilization.”

The embankment gave way just before 5 a.m while crews were constructing a retaining wall.

“The excavation in the area is a precursor to the construction of a retaining wall and highway widening,” said Logan, who added that the area of the collapse is about 50 metres in length.

As a result of the collapse, two lanes of Highway 1 eastbound were closed as a precautionary measure and traffic was restricted to the HOV lane.

A geotechnical expert was called in to assess the situation. The repairs were complete later that day.

Two days before that, eastbound traffic was shifted from the old Port Mann Bridge to the new bridge.

Crews made this transition by moving barriers and adjusting line painting and lane markings at either end of the bridge during the night of Sept. 16.

The Port Mann/Highway 1 Improvement Project is the largest transportation infrastructure project in B.C. history. It includes doubling the capacity of the bridge and widening the highway for 37 kilometres from Vancouver to Langley.

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