Repair crews have quickly repaired a gaping washout on Highway 28 linking Campbell River and Gold River.
A spokesperson for the Uplands Excavating said the company’s crews worked through the night and two-lane travel over a gravel surface was restored around 7 a.m. Tuesday on the highway near Forbes Landing about 12 kilometres west of Campbell River.
The washout, four metres deep and at least eight metres across, occurred Monday morning when heavy rain overwhelmed a small culvert under the road.
Ministry of Transport Area Manager Angie Allwood, at the scene Monday afternoon, said: “We’re not exactly sure what happened. We’ve never had a previous issue at this spot. It could have been a blockage upstream that let loose. It was raining at the time.”
Allwood said all emergency services, Myra Falls and Quinsam mines personnel and local residents were quickly informed of the road closure. Essential traffic was circumventing the washout using local logging roads, she said.
Uplands Excavating had heavy equipment on site Monday afternoon. Uplands employee Chris Kool said a small “foot and a half” culvert that failed was being replaced by one more than a metre in diameter.
