Crews started taking down one of the four cranes holding debris nets along a stretch of Highway 4 Friday, after making “good progress” with the painstaking work of removing fire-fractured rock and debris from cliffs overhanging the highway, the Transportation Ministry said.
With three days of rock-removal work complete at Cameron Lake Bluffs, work is now focused on the east bluff, where the second and third cranes are supporting a large mesh barrier that drapes the cliff face, protecting the highway.
Rock scaling must be completed during good weather and during daytime hours, the ministry noted in a statement, which means the highway continues to be closed for two periods daily, from 9 a.m. to 11:30 a.m., and again from 1:30 p.m. to 5 p.m. There are no closures planned for overnight or on weekends, including on the B.C. Day long weekend.
The rock-scaling work must be completed before the highway can be safely reopened to two-way traffic, estimated to be in mid-August, the ministry said.
It said the mid-day openings have been sufficient to clear traffic in both directions.
The province is working on installing a permanent weather station near the site to provide real-time information on wind and weather conditions, replacing the temporary weather-alert system currently in place.
The highway was closed on June 6 as crews fought the Cameron Lake Bluffs wildfire, which burned 229 hectares before being brought under control on June 17.
A detour was established between Port Alberni and Lake Cowichan using forest-service and privately owned industrial roads.
Single-lane-alternating traffic has been in place along Highway 4 since June 23.
