How We Catch Avalanche Debris to Reduce Highway Closure Times
If we can “catch” some avalanche debris, we can “release” you that much sooner to travel through the area and get to your destination.
Information on how our Avalanche Safety Program keeps our roads safe, constantly monitoring conditions and closing-reopening roads to avoid disaster.
If we can “catch” some avalanche debris, we can “release” you that much sooner to travel through the area and get to your destination.
A terrible scar on a beautiful landscape, the “Big Burn” on BC Highway 3 in Manning Provincial Park, was a striking reminder of the damaging impact of forest fire for many years. Many British Columbians
Our new Automated Avalanche Detection Systems (AADS) gather and deliver reliable, timely data that’s improving avalanche forecasting, shortening our avalanche control response time, and helping to reduce closures while enhancing highway safety. The technology serves Bear Pass on Highway 37A and Ningunsaw Pass on Hwy 37.
Picture these cute Star Wars-looking devices standing guard on the cliffs above, as you drive along the western end of Highway 16. They’re watching over motorists (just like we are) and are ready to (upon our command) remove snow from above to keep you travelling safely to your destination.
A strange thing happens when you’re travelling BC’s highways and you head through Rogers Pass, drive a section of Highway 93, cruise alongside Long Beach near Tofino, or travel Highway 97, 133 kilometres north of Dawson
“Even the largest avalanche is triggered by small things.” – Vernor Vinge, author Rain… Wind… The weight from a layer of fresh snow… Warming temperatures… It doesn’t take much to break the bonds that hold
The Kootenay Pass avalanche team wanted to shorten road closures due to avalanche control, because at the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure our biggest drive is to keep people and goods moving efficiently and safely along BC highways. When the new avalanche explosion hardware and software were installed in 2015, BC became the first Gazex system user in the world, to not only suggest this change, but to incorporate new software successfully into an existing system.