Drivers who’ve missed cruising down the Claremont Access in Hamilton, Ont., may soon have that option again in just weeks with a slope stabilizing project close to finishing, according to the city’s director of engineering services.
After seven months of maintenance on 600 metres of eroded steel wall along a section of the Niagara Escarpment, Jackie Kennedy says maintenance crews are now in the “final weeks of the work.”
“I’m happy to tell you that the scaling work was finished last week. That’s a big milestone to get to,” Kennedy said.
“There’s some debris still on the top shelf of the escarpment, so way up high, we’re going to remove that so that if any materials do fall … it doesn’t sort of cascade down.”
All downbound lanes closed on March 2 after a routine inspection conducted in late February by Stantec Consulting reported decay “indicative of a potential failure of certain sections” along the escarpment.
Commuters heading to the lower city have had to resort to alternatives like the Jolley Cut for several months now.
Kennedy said the most challenging part of the rehabilitation was workers having to “hang off the edge” of the escarpment and belay down on harnesses to do manual work.
“So the work really has to be staggered and staged and done intentionally with safety in mind,” Kennedy said.
“I’d say that’s probably the biggest challenge with the work.”
Steel walls that drivers have been used to seeing for decades over a 500-metre stretch of the roadway are now gone with the removal of loose materials along the escarpment.
Over the next couple of days, trucks are expected to clean up debris and equipment prior to fencing being put back up.
Weather permitting, a full road cleanup is expected over the next two weeks along with patch repairs and repainting of lines.
Drones taking advanced digital imaging of the escarpment will be a part of an ongoing monitoring program, identifying rockface changes that may be a concern.
The rehabilitation is expected to cost between $4.5 million and $5 million when completed and only two lanes will be reopened.
Kennedy says the third downbound lane is not in the reopening plan.
“So the fencing that’s been up, is going to continue to be there and we’ll look at the capacity needs as things move forward.”
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