The North Klondike Highway remains closed today north of Carmacks at the Tatchun Creek Bridge.

Yukon government spokeswoman Jennifer Magnuson said the creek is running higher and much more quickly than it normally does, and is causing erosion problems.

"We are bringing in some more blocks to stabilize the base of the bridge," she told the Star this morning. "The water is washing out the abutments."

The highway was closed between noon and 1 p.m. Monday.

While crews are working to stabilize the bridge, other crews are removing snow and repairing washouts on the seasonal Frenchman Lake Road should it become an alternative for light vehicle traffic.

The Frenchman Lake Road runs between the Robert Campbell Highway and the North Klondike. It links up with the North Klondike Highway just north of Tatchun Creek, and leaves the Robert Campbell 10 kilometres east of Carmacks.

Magnuson said crews, however, were hoping to have the main highway open for traffic later today.

For grocer Minnie Beets of the Dawson City General Store, the supply of food is not an issue, as her regular truck is not scheduled to come in until Saturday, and the truck for the Bonanza Market isn't scheduled to arrive until Friday.

Beets was planning to come to Whitehorse today, but doesn't much feel like taking the chance and having to wait along the highway.

"It's just the mail and other things like that," she said. "We should be good for food, and our weather is better than yours. I just had to put that in."

Magnuson said would-be highway travellers should call the 511 highway information line for the most recent advisories, as the repair crew is providing regular updates on the status of the Tatchun Creek Bridge.

Ric Janowicz, the Yukon government's hydrologist, said this morning the Carmacks area received about 30 to 50 per cent more snowfall this winter than it usually does.

There's been a couple of reports of unusual river break-ups this spring, including the devastating situation that sent huge, destructive pans of ice through the waterfront section of Eagle, Alaska, situated downriver from Dawson City.

The somewhat unusual breakup, Janowicz suggested, seems to be associated with the below-average winter temperatures which caused thicker-than-usual river ice, which in turn was affected by the recent above-average hot spell.