Cabot Trail Rock Slope Inventory and Assessment

Mountainous terrain along the scenic Cabot Trail Highway in Cape Breton Highlands National Park can pose a challenge when it comes to geohazards. Parks Canada engaged us to perform a slope stability and rockfall hazard assessment for slopes along an 80 kilometre section of the road—from French Mountain to MacKenzie Mountain.

We inventoried and visually inspected the slopes, carried out geotechnical and geological mapping of relevant slope features, and performed condition assessments. Our geotechnical team inspected the sites for this project, performed the rockfall hazard assessment, and determined remediation options for each site to address the rockfall hazards. Rock slope stabilization programs consist of a combination of rock slope scaling, rock anchor installation, removal of rockfall debris from the catchment ditch, and in select areas, the installation of low-impact barriers to enhance catchment ditch effectiveness.

For high priority sites, we developed remedial options—to date, we’ve provided final detailed design, tendering, onsite engineering, and quality assurance services and have completed 6 rounds of remedial work at 15 slopes.