A combination of heavy rain and the original quality of the road led to the failure of the gravel portion of Mamquam Road last month, according to the District.
"The Mamquam gravel road was originally built as a logging road. The original logging road construction used substandard road construction methods, such as overburdening the road shoulder with fill material and using logs for slope stabilization, which are now failing," said the District's Rachel Boguski.
The District commissioned geotechnical review has now been completed, and it determined that the heavy rains throughout the first part of November saturated the ground in the area, which exacerbated the overburdened slopes and contributed to the failures, Boguski said.
The slope displacement was first noted the week of Nov. 15 after a stretch of heavy rain.
The District has secured emergency response funding of $66,000 under the Emergency Program Act (Disaster Financial Assistance) for emergency works to stabilize the slope in the most severely impacted section of the road. Staff continue to assess and monitor for signs of further instability, Boguski said.
The road remains closed to the public and barriers will remain in place to prevent access to trail users.
**Please note, this story was updated after it was first posted with additional information about the amount of funding secured by the District.
