Dundas escarpment will be monitored after decision not to repair

Fallen rock to be removed to create space for more

City staff will monitor the escarpment at Sydenham Road, and remove rock from a catchment area to provide capacity for more falling rock, after deciding not to repair or remove a detached 11-metre high, threemetre wide column of rock three weeks ago.

Spokesperson Emily Trotta said the city will also complete maintenance scaling of rock — removing potentially unstable rock using hand tools — every two or three years.

“Through routine maintenance and inspection practices as per its established escarpment stabilization program, the city will continue working with engineering consultants to identify areas of concern and mitigate risks before failures occur in order to ensure continued public safety along the escarpment roadways,” Trotta said.

The city closed the Sydenham Road escarpment access for three days from Feb. 16 to 18, after announcing on Feb. 14 a need to “safely address an urgent erosion and slope stability concern” and “immediately complete required repairs.”

Concerns about escarpment stability alongside Sydenham were given to the city on Feb. 4 by Stantec Consulting Inc., which inspected the area in November 2020.

According to a Feb. 14 news release, the consultant’s review identified the need for “immediate attention in the interest of public safety.”

An information report to city councillors stated Stantec “identified that an existing rock column of significant size (approximately 11 metres high by three metres wide and up to three metres deep) is undermined and partly detached from the escarpment face.”

Stantec informed the city the significant, undermined column of rock had “a high potential of failure.”

But city staff revealed on Feb. 28 that repairs to the escarpment were not completed.

“City staff, contractors and consultants attempted to dislodge the rock protrusion and determined that the rock column is currently stable and is not in a condition that requires removal,” Trotta stated in a Feb. 28 email.

She said rock debris that had already fallen into a catchment area next to the road was removed.