CALGARY – With the arrival of two new lengths of pipe from San Diego early this morning and excavation complete at the sites of five hot spots, work on repairing the water feeder main break is progressing faster than expected.
City of Calgary Infrastructure Services General Manager Michael Thompson shared that the construction timeline has been advanced to return to reducing water restrictions by July 5.
The two pieces of pipe have arrived and are now being sandblasted and undergoing an application of epoxy which should take about two days.
“As we look at the work completed to date, specifically the excavations and exposing the five sections of pipe, we can now share we are aiming for the low end of our original timeline of three to five weeks, which would be July 5,” says Thompson. “There are still many risks ahead, but every day we work through this complex repair we become more confident in our timeline.”
Calgary Emergency Management Agency Acting Chief Coby Duerr said we are also working with the construction industry to open two locations over the next few days on the Bow River to provide non-potable water for construction work.
“We want to thank the Provincial Government for expediting the permits needed to help move this program forward quickly,” says Duerr. “We’ll have more firm details including locations and timing to share shortly.”
City of Calgary Recreation has closed a number of pools to both conserve water and do some maintenance that requires the pools to be drained.
“In the coming days, City crews will be taking that de-chlorinated water from pools to re-use for washing bridges and bridge decks and in certain construction applications,” says Duerr.
He also praised local groups who deal with Calgary’s vulnerable community.
“We have been regularly checking in with our emergency shelter and social agency partners throughout Calgary and I am pleased to report they are doing well,” says Duerr. “In fact we have heard anecdotally that one shelter has reduced their water consumption by 40 per cent.”
Calgarians continue to limit their use of water using 445 million litres Tuesday, or nearly 27 per cent below our normal use. We are thankful for your efforts but with a warm weather in the forecast, we are asking for your continued diligence.
ROADS AND MOBILITY
Access to all businesses in the area is currently being maintained and Bowness and Montgomery businesses are open. We encourage you to shop locally and where possible, plan your route ahead of time to avoid delays.
The following traffic impacts will be in effect until the completion of the feeder main repairs:
· Westbound lanes along 16 Avenue NW from 49 Street NW to Home Road will remain closed. Eastbound lanes will be open.
· 16 Avenue NW will be closed in both directions from 46 Street NW and 45 Street NW
· 16 Avenue NW will be closed in both directions from 43 Street NW to Bowness Road NW
· East/West traffic will be detoured onto Bowness Rd. Expect delays.
· Eastbound detour starts at 46 Street to Bowness Road and re-enters 16 Avenue at the Shaganappi Trail interchange
BYLAW AND ENFORCEMENT
A fire ban remains in effect for the City of Calgary. We’ve received a total of 131 calls. Twelve are pending investigation, 15 resulted in written warnings and 59 in verbal warnings. There have been four violation tickets issued. Since the beginning of this water event, there have been 7,246 calls to 311.
To learn more about interruptions to City services (including pools and arenas), a resource of frequently asked questions and the latest updates, visit Calgary.ca/16avewatermain or contact 311.
