Work on Cougar Creek to prevent future devastating floods is set to begin next week in Canmore.
Council approved a $14 million short-term mitigation program in September and manager of engineering Andy Esarte said this week a $10.4 million contract has been awarded to local firm Bremner Engineering and work is expected to be underway within a week.
“To have the budget and engineering done, tender out and work being done and ready for next spring is unbelievable,” Esarte said. “I’ve never seen anything move so quick, on time and on budget.”
Bremner will conduct channel grading, erosion protection work with articulated concrete mats, install grade control structures to prevent the waterway from down-cutting and install protection on each side of culverts under Elk Run Boulevard and the Trans-Canada Highway.
The work will include restoring the grade of private property destroyed and not covered for work under the disaster recovery program (DRP). That work is the result of $6.2 million in funding Canmore received through the new erosion program established by the government after the flood to address that particular issue, which is not covered under the DRP.
Originally, mitigation work was proposed to use gabion baskets in order to armour the banks of the creek. Esarte said due to competitive pricing in the tender process, the work includes using articulated concrete mats on the creek, which then can be covered with vegetation or landscaping afterwards.
“Once the full mitigation scheme is in place, we would plan to topsoil it and seed it with native grass seeds and have it grow kind of wild,” Esarte said.
The contractor is working to set up a manufacturing plant to produce the concrete mats in town, which he said is an interesting part of the project as nearly all materials will be manufactured and supplied locally.
The only component missing out of the mitigation plan is the debris net.
“We are conducting a geotechnical investigation right now and getting ready to send a request for proposals to debris net manufacturers,” said Esarte, adding that, depending on the net system chosen, a consultant will be hired to design its foundations and construct it.
The debris net will be installed in a bedrock-confined area approximately 600 metres north of the Town limits. The net will be designed to remove debris from the channel before water reaches the community. The majority of the damage that occurred during this past June’s flood was from the concentration of debris in the water, creating a debris flow that caused significant erosion.
Esarte said there are a number of projects administration thinks are also opportunities to not only repair infrastructure, but also enhance it in case of a future flood.
“The reason why some of these smaller projects have not been fixed up, because they could have been, is we would like to enhance them,” he said.
That includes work on the Bow River pathway north of the Engine Bridge and in Teepee Town adjacent to the hospital.
Of particular concern is the Engine Bridge. When work was done to armour it recently, it became apparent the timbers of the wooden pile foundation of the bridge are rotten, said Esarte.
“We would like the bridge to be looked at in more detail – we need it for emergency response,” he said, adding as a more significant project the work would also extend the life of the bridge.
As for other creeks in the Canmore area, Esarte recommended those with development along them should have a detailed hazard mitigation and risk assessment report completed. He said recommendations from administration regarding that work will come back in front of council this November.
