Okanagan highway could be closed for a month

It could be a month before Highway 97 between Kelowna and Penticton reopens, according to B.C.'s chief geo-technical engineer.

Mike Oliver said a crack in the rock face above a section of the Okanagan route appears to be slowly shifting, and the situation remains extremely dangerous.

It is not clear when or how work to stabilize the rock face will be done, and the focus now is on gathering information, said Oliver.

"We cannot ask a contractor to get a drill on top, nor would they ever do so. Right now we are into getting data and monitoring," he said on Monday.

When asked how long it might take to reopen the route, "It could be a month," Oliver told CBC News on Tuesday morning.

One option engineers areconsidering is to build a road to the top of the potential slide areato bring the loose material down.

But to do that, crews wouldfirst have to build a berm at the bottomto catch all the loose material, and the whole project could take a considerable amount of time.

"It would be a lot of material. It wont be done quickly. By the time we got the berm in place it could be a month," Oliver told CBC News on Tuesday morning.

Blasting closed highway

Last week, engineers noticed a massive crack in the rock face above a section of the highway between Summerland and Peachland where work was being done to widen the road.

Engineers became concerned the hillside could collapse, and the highway was shut down on Friday afternoon.

Blasting done during the highway expansion work on Friday caused the crack, Oliver said, but he was unable to confirm or deny reports thata crack was first noticed on Wednesday by an engineer working on the site.

While the route is closed, drivers of cars and small trucks travelling between Kelowna and Penticton have the option of detouring along the Okanagan Falls forest service road to Highway 33.

Vehicles weighing over 27 tonnes will have to use another route via highways 97C, 5A, 3, and 3A.