Bearspaw feeder main replacement on track for year-end completion as fall water restrictions loom

Construction on Calgary’s Bearspaw South feeder main replacement remains on track for completion by the end of the year, city officials say, as Calgarians are advised to prepare for another round of Stage 4 water restrictions this fall tied to the project.

Project officials provided an update Wednesday on construction progress, additional repair work and the looming return of water restrictions as the city forges ahead with the accelerated project to replace the critical water transmission line that has burst twice in the past two years.

“I’m happy to report that the project is on schedule and moving forward,” said Michael Thompson, chief operating officer of Calgary’s water utility, at a Wednesday afternoon press conference. “We’re still on schedule to have this new pipe in service in December of this year.”

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Mayor Jeromy Farkas said the project team has been working around the clock since the water main ruptured for a second time in January to get the replacement pipe done as quickly as possible.

“This is a project unlike any other,” Farkas told reporters. “What we’ve been able to deliver here in Calgary, this milestone, is something that a lot of other cities, a lot of other provinces in this country simply couldn’t (do).”

Calgarians are set to face another round of Stage 4 water restrictions beginning in mid-October as crews connect the new feeder main to the existing water system.

The restrictions are expected to last about four weeks and are necessary to tie in the twice-failed feeder main’s replacement line to the city’s water system – a process that requires the original feeder main to be out of service.

“When we do that work, we will need to enter into Stage Four water restrictions, with indoor conservation measures required,” Thompson said. “This is similar to what we’ve all gone through before, what we experienced in April when we came in and did repair work on the feeder main.”

Calgarians can also expect temporary outdoor water restrictions for about a week in mid-September to accommodate planned electrical work at the Bearspaw Water Treatment Plant. That work is separate from the feeder main replacement project.

Thompson said more information about the September restrictions will be provided in the coming weeks.

Construction on Stage A of the new Bearspaw South Feeder Main began in January using microtunnelling — a method that allows the new feeder main to be installed beneath existing infrastructure with minimal surface disruption.

Crews completed approximately 3.7 kilometres of microtunnelling from 73rd Avenue to the Shaganappi Pump Station earlier this month. A concrete carrier pipe was installed underground, and crews are now working to install a steel feeder main inside it, with more than two kilometres of pipe already installed inside the carrier pipe.