External events
External Event | Impacts on Highway 8 in British Columbia due to the November 2021 Atmospheric River Event
November 30, 2022, 5:00 pm to 6:00 pm
EME 1121 (main floor)
UBC Okanagan
Highway 8 between Spences Bridge and Lower Nicola in British Columbia suffered significant damage during the atmospheric river event of November 2021. Multiple sections of the highway were completely washed away and destroyed due to flooding and lateral migration of the Nicola River. Small farming and Indigenous communities along the highway were cut off. The damage included a total of 6 km of highway that was completely eroded away, with a further 1 km of highway and 3 highway bridges compromised. Additional damage in the corridor included 4 private or secondary road bridges that were washed away, with a further 4 compromised and 5 bridges associated with the historic Kettle Valley Railway also lost. The damage through this corridor was significantly amplified in areas due to the vulnerability of glacial drift soils to erosion, the impacts from a wildfire that occurred in the summer of 2021 and the presence of natural and artificial hydraulic constrictions along sections of the Nicola River. The resulting flood damage created multiple geohazards for the response team to contend with, including some significant landslide hazards that, in one extreme case, resulted in an approximately 3 km section of the highway shifting onto the historic Kettle Valley Railway alignment. This presentation provides a summary of the impacts that the flood had on the highway, including the influence of hydraulic constrictions and erodible soils, as well as the significant landslide hazards created by the flood, how they were addressed by the flood response team during the emergency access phase (Phase 1) and provides an overview of the response works.
SPEAKER:
Michael J. Laws, P.Eng. – Senior Geotechnical Engineer
Michael is a Senior Geotechnical Engineer with Ecora based in Kelowna, BC. He has 22 years of broad geotechnical investigation and design experience, including analysis and design of soil and rock slopes, geohazard mitigation, geotechnical design of shallow and deep foundations, pavement design, seismic and liquefaction analyses, and the design of geostructures, primarily in the transportation and public infrastructure sectors with the last 13 years of this experience based in Western Canada. Michael is currently the geotechnical lead on the Highway 8 flood response for the BC Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure.
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Featured photo: Highway 8 - east of Spences Bridge, impacts of flood damage. Crews are assessing and working to repair. December 11, 2021. By BC Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure.