Officials at the Big Bar landslide are in the process of bringing in heavy equipment to the slide site, north west of Kamloops.

Environmental Unit Lead Michael Crowe says a machine called a spider excavator (pictured) will be the first machine sent to the base of the site.

He says it will allow for more rock manipulation work to be done.

“We then hope to be following suit with some other equipment in the coming days and weeks as well, but we just feel like what we need is a lot more mechanical assistance to help with the rock manipulation on the west side,” Crowe said, while speaking on NL Newsday.

“We’re also continuing our assessment of our ability to get to the mid-channel rocks and trying to remove them as well.”

He adds rock scaling crews will also be working above the site where the machines will be in order to keep everyone safe.

“Before the machine can be on site, before it can work in the area that’s at risk, we have to make sure that it’s completely safe,” noted Crowe. “And that’s what the scalers activities are.”

“Getting an excavator like this to the base of the slope will be a significant accomplishment. These types of machines are made for this type of high angle work, but it will still be impressive to see.”

Up to this point, most of the work has been done by hand using power tools, but there are now plans to bring in more machines in the coming days and weeks.

(Photo via Big Bar Unified Command)