Officials estimate repairs will spill into late November
The city began another set of repairs to the Bearspaw south feeder main on Wednesday, disrupting traffic in certain areas but without interrupting Calgary’s water supply.
The repairs follow the results of a pipe diver analysis — a small device swimming the length of the pipe — which found additional vulnerabilities along the enfeebled feeder main that required immediate fixing.
Officials estimate repairs will spill into late November. As the work continues, traffic disruptions will rise in severity. “Performing this work now will help to lower the risk of another unplanned failure in the feeder main,” the city said in a statement.
On Wednesday, crews began pre-construction work, which involved median removal on Crowchild Trail N.W. and Parkdale Blvd N.W., sawing into the pavement, setting up fencing, removing sound barrier walls and instating pathway closures.
The city states these steps are required before removing sections of the pavement as part of the excavation process to expose the pipe for repairs. Draining and excavation of the pipe are anticipated to begin the week of Oct. 21.
Most of the work is concentrated around three locations at West Hillhurst:
- Parkdale Boulevard N.W. between 26th and 27th Streets;
- Westbound off-ramp on Memorial Drive that connects to Crowchild Trail northbound;
- Brownsea Drive N.W. at the Bev Longstaff West Hillhurst Pedestrian Bridge ramp.
This is the third time in five months that the city has had to repair the pipe feeding water to most Calgarians. The first was in June, when a rupture triggered Stage 4 water restrictions, forbidding outdoor water use, with an order to cut indoor consumption by 25 per cent for five weeks.
The second time was in August, when the city ordered the same restrictions for four weeks but alerted the public about two weeks in advance.
The city said in August that it’s advancing plans and exploring long-term options to prevent disruptions from future water main breaks. A new north feeder main is being designed as the city also plans a south feeder main — both projects will take eight years to complete and be delivered in phases.
However, officials have repeatedly said the city didn’t see the crisis coming before the pipe initially broke in June.