The Big Bar Landslide site on the Fraser River saw rock blasting Tuesday to remove a large chunk of the obstruction.

Pressure has been on the federal and provincial governments for months whoB次元官网网址檝e been working collaboratively with First Nations to get the blockage removed.

B次元官网网址淭his week, Peter Kiewit & Sons successfully carried out a planned blast at the East Toe,B次元官网网址� DFO stated in a Feb. 21 news release. B次元官网网址淜iewit also made solid progress on the construction of an overland road for heavy equipment, and on the installation of a highline to facilitate site access and on rock fall prevention.B次元官网网址�

The East Toe blast, which took place on February 18, took out a large portion of bedrock extending into the river at the site of the slide.

B次元官网网址淭he result is a widened channel and more flow directed toward the east river bank.B次元官网网址�

Update: Successful initial blasting of the Big Bar landslide East Toe. Learn more:

B次元官网网址� DFO Pacific (@DFO_Pacific)

Sto:lo fisherman Ken Malloway, whoB次元官网网址檚 been involved as a member of the First Nations panel at Big Bar thinks it was a B次元官网网址済ood moveB次元官网网址� to finally get the blasting done by a B次元官网网址渢op notchB次元官网网址� U.S.-based company.

B次元官网网址淲eB次元官网网址檝e been pushing them to move as much of the debris as they can. Some rocks are as big as a house,B次元官网网址� Malloway said. B次元官网网址淣ow that they took that East Toe out it should help with the fish passage, but there is still lots of work left to be done.B次元官网网址�

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The massive slide, which was discovered last June, severely restricted fisheries and impacted communities reliant on fish. That triggered a joint effort in July by governments and First Nations, and an Incident Command Post was established at Kamloops.

DFO said acoustic monitoring downstream from the slide did not detect any fish in the area before the blast and no fish mortality was detected after.

B次元官网网址淒rilling on the East Toe will now resume in preparation for a second blast in early March, depending on the weather.B次元官网网址�

Malloway who also sits on the Fraser River Panel of the Pacific Salmon Commission, said the consensus this week was that B次元官网网址淒FO was doing as much as they possibly can on thisB次元官网网址� with the limited amount of time in the work window.

The HellB次元官网网址檚 Gate slide took 40 or 50 years to get fixed, and another slide on the Bulkley River also took years.

B次元官网网址淪o weB次元官网网址檙e moving at lightening speed now compared to those efforts in the past,B次元官网网址� Malloway said.

There is also talk about putting in a temporary fish way, to help more fish get past the blockage, which Malloway said he supported.

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