Emergency stabilization work at the Ten-Mile Slide on Highway 99 northeast of Lillooet is now underway, providing immediate short-term stabilization that will allow the highway to be opened to two lanes, improving safety and mobility for the local communities and the traveling public.

“In December, the B.C. government committed $60 million in funding for a long-term fix for the area known as the ‘Ten-Mile Slide,’” said Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure Todd Stone. “In advance of this major project, that is set to get underway this summer, the ministry has started initial work to stabilize this section of Highway 99 in the short term and open up the highway to two lanes.”

Peter Kiewit Infrastructure Co. was awarded a $1.2-million contract for this initial work, which will consist of installing approximately 30 soil anchors above Highway 99. Once the 30 anchors have been installed and ministry engineers are confident that the slope is secure enough to handle construction, work will begin to re-establish two lanes of travel and lift current load restrictions on commercial vehicles.

“We know that this highway is an important link for commercial traffic and for the efficient transport of goods in and out of the area,” said MLA for Fraser Nicola Jackie Tegart. “This initial work to install soil anchors is the first step in stabilizing the slope and road base to eventually allow the safe passage of commercial vehicles.”

The Ten-Mile Slide is approximately 200 metres wide, 300 metres long and contains over one million cubic metres of rock and earth. Since 1988, this slow-moving slide has periodically made the road unstable and unreliable for travellers. Accelerated slide movement occurred last fall and resulted in a full closure of Highway 99 for eight days. Highway 99 has since re-opened but only to single-lane alternating traffic with a 50% legal load restriction at the slide site.

Final designs for the major capital project are expected to be complete by this spring.