By April 24, efforts were well underway to dig out an excavator that sank into the muskeg while clearing brush on the Hwy. 11 right-of-way south of Robins Road earlier in the week.
SUNDRIDGE – Thawing ground and heavy equipment recently illustrated the challenges of laying a highway through Almaguin muskeg.
Sturgeon Falls Brush, a subcontractor of Carillion Canada, spent a few days trying to extract an excavator that sank up to its roof in a bog south of Robins Road on April 23. The company has been clearing brush in the area before Carillion begins advance embankment work.
“Unfortunately, with the frost coming out of the ground, one of their excavators broke through the surface on Wednesday,” said Gordan Rennie, regional issues advisor with the Ministry of Transportation.
No one was injured in the incident, and the sinking was slow, but before long, there was not much above ground other than the excavator’s boom. Attempts were made to pull the machine out using skidders, but it was soon decided that the only option was to dig it out. Brush clearing proceeded as this was happening.
“Clearing has been ongoing, with the other excavators using swamp mats,” said Rennie, explaining that the thick wooden pads spread the weight of the machines, allowing them to operate on muskeg. “They’ve got to get that cleared, so Carillion can start digging out the muskeg.”
While the contractor initially estimated that the excavator would be back on terra firma by the end of Friday, the extraction continued into the weekend.
When clearing is complete, the muskeg will be excavated and backfilled with rock.
Editorial
