It was a painful morning commute for drivers using Highway 1 eastbound in Coquitlam Thursday, after an embankment collapsed on a portion of the highway.

Some time early Thursday morning, a roughly 50-metre chunk of soil slid down an embankment on the highway between North Road and the Brunette Avenue overpass.

As a precaution, two of the three eastbound lanes were shut while geotechnical crews stabilized the slope. The road was eventually given a clean bill of health after a few hours.

All three lanes were reopened shortly after noon, but the incident caused major delays and lineups on the highway leading all the way back well into Burnaby.

There were no injuries reported in the incident, and given the location of the slide, there was no damage.

Port Mann/Highway 1 Project spokesperson Max Logan also noted there was no damage to the closed lanes or the highway pavement.

"This kind of thing happens from time-totime on construction projects when excavation is underway," he told The NOW.

Logan said he is unaware of any similar incidents on the project, adding crews don't expect another slide to occur again. As for the Port Mann project itself, three lanes of the new bridge were opened to traffic on Tuesday.

Last week, the B.C. government announced a fee scheme for the bridge, which will see tolls start at $1.50 when the bridge opens in December, until the end of February.

jdeutsch@thenownews.com