Revelstoke’s Airport Way will reopen at 3 p.m. on Thursday, July 19, almost four weeks after a sinkhole closed the road on June 22.
The City of Revelstoke public works operations manager Darren Komonoski said he is “100 per cent” confident it will reopen by that time.
Komonoski said problems with the soil on the scene lengthened the delay and caused costs to skyrocket.
City crews had repaired the failed culvert that had caused the sinkhole and had refilled the hole by about a third when an engineer determined the soil wasn’t going to work – it wasn’t stable enough.
The city had to dig up the material and ship it out. They then got new, more suitable gravel and completed the job.
In early July, Komonoski told city council the repairs would cost more than $100,000. It’s now apparent it will cost much, much more. “That is going to increase, I will tell you that,” Komonoski told the Times Review. He said he didn’t have an estimate because contractor bills weren’t in yet, but he would prepare a report to city council in the coming weeks.
The major diversion of equipment, manpower and budget will eat into other projects that were planned for this summer. Komonoski said city staff would soon meet to make decision, but said it was possible playing field repairs, paving and other civic projects will not happen this summer. “The money has to come from somewhere,” he said.
The road will be left unpaved for several weeks to allow for settling. There will also be supplemental work in the area in the coming weeks.
The sinkhole and closure was near the Williamson’s Lake turnoff. Drivers have been detouring around the site via Camozzi Road.
Riparian areas located on either side of the road also contributed to the complexity of fixing the break.
