An excavator that fell into Pontoon Lake last Friday remains in the lake, outside Yellowknife, as the territorial government and a contractor work on a plan to safely remove it.
A spokesperson for the NWT’s Department of Infrastructure said on Monday the contractor, RTL Robinson Enterprises Ltd, is “working to create a safe working space to recover the excavator.”
The vehicle fell into the lake after an embankment it was constructing slumped.
The spokesperson said the department had a geotechnical expert visit the site on Saturday.
In a follow-up response to Cabin Radio on Monday, the spokesperson said RTL Robinson Enterprises Ltd is extending the road embankment along the Ingraham Trail around Pontoon Lake. In doing so, it discovered the ground was “less stable than anticipated.”
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Biologists have also attended the incident and are testing for any spills, the spokesperson said. According to the GNWT, the 450 litres declared in a spill report submitted on Friday was the “maximum amount that could potentially have been released,” but there is no indication a spill has occurred.
“It is not a confirmed amount spilled, and the reports are made as a precautionary measure, then adjusted once they have confirmation,” the infrastructure department spokesperson said.
The department said recovery of the excavator will take a few days.
In the meantime, the spokesperson said technical plans are being reviewed to potentially extend the road to the other side, away from Pontoon Lake.
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“There is no public safety concern,” the spokesperson said.
“The required permitting and engineering work, including water-related permits, were all in place before construction began.”
Earlier last week, a dump truck working on the same construction project in the same area of road also fell in because the under-construction embankment slumped.
Cabin Radio contacted RTL Robinson Enterprises Ltd and its parent company, KAG Canada, for more information, but did not receive a response.
