Work underway to twin Calgary feeder principal that brought on water disaster – Calgary

The Metropolis of Calgary is designing a undertaking to twin a bit of the Bearspaw feeder principal after its rupture compelled the town into months of water restrictions final summer time.

Though particulars had been restricted throughout a presentation from metropolis administration to councillors Wednesday, building may start later this yr.

The proposal would see twinning of as much as 5 kilometres of the Bearspaw feeder principal, alongside sections product of pre-stressed concrete cylindrical pipe (PCCP), the identical that brought on considerations across the pipe’s integrity following its vital rupture final June.

That scenario compelled the town into water restrictions that lasted months, as greater than 20 repairs had been accomplished on the pipe, which carries round 60 per cent of the town’s consuming water.

Steve Wyton, the town’s supervisor for asset administration mentioned there stay sections of the feeder principal that may should be changed or repaired over the approaching years, and a twinned line would assist with redundancy.

“The twinning option would alleviate that concern over the long-term and allow us to operate the pipe safely,” Wyton advised reporters.

“We still do have to decide over the longer term what would be the use of the existing feeder main and time will tell as we go through the detailed design process.”

Additional particulars round prices, timelines and undertaking supply are anticipated to go to metropolis council later this yr with an implementation plan.

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Town is contemplating microtunnelling to twin the road in an effort to attenuate service disruptions and scale back impacts to residents and companies within the Bowness and Montgomery neighbourhoods.

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“We don’t have to close roads, we don’t have to disturb private property except for a shaft where you drop the tunnel boring machine,” Ward 7 Coun. Terry Wong advised reporters.

Prior to selecting microtunnelling, the Metropolis of Calgary was wanting into putting in a liner inside the present feeder principal to assist reinforce the pipe, however Wyton mentioned it will’ve required longer interval of service disruptions and extra important building impacts over quite a lot of years.

Much less disruptions can be welcomed for Shawn Kearns, who operates Greenbriar Market + Refillery in Montgomery, which noticed enterprise take a success through the prolonged repairs on the feeder principal final summer time.

“We saw a slowdown of traffic and customers coming through the door and our customers were telling us they weren’t coming because of the craziness over here,” Kearns advised World Information.

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Ward 1 Coun. Sonya Sharp, who represents areas that had been impacted by the feeder principal rupture, mentioned she hopes to have communication with the general public on a plan.

“They went through a lot last summer,” Sharp mentioned. “Now that we have some time to work with them and be proactive, maybe it’ll alleviate some stress that they will feel.”

In line with metropolis officers’ presentation to committee, the transfer would assist create extra redundancy as a part of a collection of tasks aimed toward growing capability within the total water system.

These tasks embody upgrades to the Glenmore Water Remedy Plant, an enlargement of the Bearspaw Water Remedy Plant, in addition to new feeder mains servicing new communities in north and south Calgary.

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Sharp believes metropolis administration will use greater than $1 billion in authorised borrowing included within the 2025 finances to assist pay for these tasks within the coming years.

“Everything is catching up to us. For the last decade it’s been deferred, deferred, deferred, and not been a top priority,” Sharp mentioned. “Council and future council’s need to pay attention to what infrastructure means to our city.”

In line with a virtually 600-page report into the feeder principal break, overseen by Related Engineering, there have been a number of components that are believed to have led to the incident.

These components embody microcracking, or earlier injury to the outer layer of the pipe, which allowed soil contact with the pipe’s prestress wires, inflicting stress corrosion cracking and hydrogen embrittlement.

The report famous soil circumstances close to a number of sections of the feeder principal contained excessive ranges of chlorides, seemingly from salt utilized in de-icing supplies on metropolis streets.

Whereas officers be aware their timeline of beginning building on the finish of this yr is “aggressive,” some councillors consider it’s going to include challenges.

“When you realize all the projects they’ve got going, even if you run them concurrently, project management is a significant task,” Wong mentioned. “If they can get it done, great.”