The future of the Hamilton escarpment is fraught with difficulty according to a McMaster University science professor.
Dr. Carolyn Eyles says what is known as the Hamilton mountain is slowly eroding to the southwest towards London.
“Some of the underlying rocks become eroded and they weaken the surface rocks or what we call the cap rocks of the uppermost part of the escarpment,” she said.
“It gradually ekes its way backwards.”
Dan McKinnon, manager of Public Works, says the city is taking action to deal with those changes.
“We built a rock fence along the Claremont,” McKinnon says.
“So that after we’ve done the scaling, if there is more loose material, so if it does fall,” McKinnon stresses, “it gets attenuated by the fence and can’t make its way out to the road.”
McKinnon says the most recent work to deal with slope instability on the Claremont access cost about $1.3 million.
Further work planned for the Sherman access and Fifty Road access are estimated at $2.5 million each.