Project Update – November 2, 2020
Photo Map
We’ve added some new photos to the interactive map, have a look!
What’s Happening in Traffic This Week
Reduced Lanes on Eastbound Trans-Canada Highway
Inside lane closures on eastbound Trans-Canada Highway will be occurring again this week in three separate locations.
Looking west at eastbound Trans-Canada Highway lane closure for median removal (approaching Old Banff Coach Road S.W.)
All work is weather dependent. Please check 511 Alberta and The City of Calgary’s traffic information map for up-to-date information on traffic detours and speed reductions.
We appreciate your patience during construction.
Bridge Construction Continues
If you look closely inside the cofferdam, you can see the base of the pier legs protruding from the pilecap
Pouring the pilecap inside the cofferdam
Crews are preparing the pier table to install the form traveller (pre-assembled forms that will be filled with concrete to make a bridge segment)
Topsoil placement along the collector-distributor road
Photo Updates
Steel piles for west bridge abutment on October 8, 2020 
Steel piles for west and east bridge abutments on October 24, 2020
Backfilling bridge abutments on October 27, 2020
Placing gravel over the clay liner
Laying down geotextile fabric around the outlet pipe and placing rip rap (large rock) on top
Looking west at topsoil being spread on top of geotextile fabric on the south slope
Looking west at topsoil being spread on the south slope of the east approach
Drilling Blast Holes
Although it may seem like a simple hole in the ground, blast holes are an exact science designed with a predetermined depth, width and spacing based on the type of ground material being blasted. Blast hole markers tell the drill rig operator exactly where to make the hole for the charges.
Drilling blast holes
Heating and Hoarding
Despite the cold weather, construction continues. Fresh concrete needs to be kept warm so when temperatures drop, the concrete gets covered in tarps, called hoarding, and heaters pump warm air into the hoard to keep the concrete from freezing and becoming brittle.
Hoarding and heating concrete
Burying Powerlines Under the Trans-Canada Highway
Guided pipe ramming (trenchless construction that uses a pneumatic hammer to push casing pipe) continued this week to bury utility lines under the highway.
The start of work last week 
Steel casing pipe on rails with the blue hammer visible on the left
Looking north at the steel casing pipe partially through the slope under the road
Lookahead – Old Banff Coach Road S.W.
The road base for the detour is nearly done, and if the weather cooperates, it will be paved in the near future. After that, streetlighting will be installed and then traffic will be shifted.
East end of the Old Banff Coach Road S.W. detour
Looking northwest at the top lift of gravel on detour road in preparation for paving
Once traffic is moved onto the detour, excavation for the interchange will begin.
