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Hwy closed another day

UPDATE: 1 p.m.

DriveBC reports the Trans-Canada Highway will remain closed near Field until late Thursday afternoon at the earliest.

The highway is closed in both directions 16 kilometres west of Field due to a rock slide.

Work continues to remove the debris and stabilize the rock face.


UPDATE: 6:30 a.m.

Two workers injured Monday in a rock slide in Yoho National Park were drilling holes to place explosives during rock scaling work on the Trans-Canada Highway, Parks Canada says.

Parks Canada spokeswoman Lindsay McPherson said in an email that two pieces of heavy equipment were caught in the slide.

RCMP said in a news release Tuesday the closure could last up to 72 hours.

"It's expected to take a long time to clean up," RCMP Cpl. Curtis Peters said Tuesday evening.

McPherson said the scaling work was being done to "mitigate unplanned rockfall events" and noted there was some irony that the slide happened during work to prevent a slide from happening.

The cause of the slide is under investigation.

Word on the duration of the highway closure is expected to come this morning.


UPDATE: 4:55 p.m.

The rockslide that closed the Trans-Canada Highway west of Field Monday night was caused by contractors drilling holes for explosives, reports the Calgary Herald. 

According to Parks Canada, two people who were working at the site were taken to hospital with non-life threatening injuries.

“At this time, a geotechnical assessment is underway to ensure the safety of personnel in preparation for clearing the highway of the approximately 10,000 cubic metres of rockslide and debris that fell,” said Lindsay McPherson, spokesperson with Parks Canada, in a statement. 


ORIGINAL: 3:04 p.m.

Travel to Calgary will continue to face significant delays due to a road closure near Field.

The Trans-Canada Highway was closed Monday night due to a rock fall about 16 kilometres west of Field.

Since then, traffic has been detoured via Highway 95, south of Golden to Radium Hot Springs and back north on Highway 93. That's a detour that adds more than an hour and 100 kilometres to the journey.

The highway remains closed in both directions, and DriveBC reports it will stay closed until at least Wednesday afternoon while a geotechnical assessment is conducted.

That assessment is expected to take place at noon tomorrow.



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