Project Update - November 23, 2020 - West Calgary Ring Road

What’s Happening in Traffic This Week

New Exit Ramps

The project hits a major milestone with the opening of three new exit ramps and a new bridge. Please watch for reduced speeds and signage in the area. There may be some slowdowns while drivers adapt to the new configuration. We appreciate your patience and safe driving during this time.

Crestmont Boulevard S.W.

Single lane alternating traffic will be in effect along Crestmont Boulevard S.W. for the next several weeks for stormline installation and work on the slope stability wall. We have made some adjustments to improve traffic in the winter conditions, however, Old Banff Coach Road S.W. can be used as an alternative route during this time.

Westbound Trans-Canada highway

The right lane on westbound Trans-Canada Highway west of Valley Ridge Boulevard N.W. will be closed until the end of November.

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.

Controlled Blasting Update

Controlled blasting on the Paskapoo Slope is winding down for the season and the last blast of the year is anticipated to occur on Thursday, November 26 – please check the schedule for further updates. Blasting will resume for about two months in Spring 2021.

Controlled blasting near Crestmont is complete.

Building Abutments

Work on the abutments for this basketweave bridge – that will separate eastbound traffic getting on and off the highway – is in full swing.

The steel piles are driven into the ground (to nearly the same depth as their length) to support the abutment wall

The start of a Mechanically Stabilized Earth (MSE) wall can be seen in front of the driven piles

Major Milestones

With the basketweave bridge open to separate traffic getting on and off the Trans-Canada Highway, motorists should begin to feel the effects of the improvements.

Construction can begin on the second of three Trans-Canada Highway bridges once traffic has shifted to the detour

Looking east at the new exits on the north side of the Trans-Canada Highway

Trenchless Utility Construction Continues

Some overhead powerlines along the Trans-Canada Highway are being relocated underground to accommodate the new infrastructure (they are actually visible in the photo above). Over the last several weeks the utility company has been using a combination of auguring (horizontal drilling) and guided pipe ramming (trenchless construction that uses a pneumatic hammer) to push casing pipe underground.

On the south side of the highway, conduit wires have already been pulled through the steel casing pipe underneath the roadway

On the north side of the highway, just southeast of Valley Ridge, the casing pipe has reached ground conditions that require using the pneumatic (compressed air) hammer. Crews have installed an echo barrier to reduce the noise, but we recognize this is difficult for adjacent residents. The utility contractor exhausted other options before resorting to hammering the pipe.

Driving steel casing pipe with a powerful pneumatic hammer on the north side of the Trans-Canada Highway

Looking north at the concrete deck curing (the tarps are hidden by the layer of snow)

Looking north at the wooden planks being installed between the girders to form the bridge deck

Dust Mitigation on the Topsoil Stockpile

This week Aspen Woods residents bordering the Transportation Utility Corridor can expect to see crews hydromulching the topsoil stockpile.

Hydromulch is a mixture of water, grass seed, fertilizer and mulch that will be spread across the topsoil pile to mitigate dust by encouraging plant growth. The mixture used in hydromulching is quick germinating and is easily applied over a large area.

Asphalt Recycling

Now that the Old Banff Coach Road S.W. detour is in use, crews are removing the asphalt concrete pavement from the original road to be stored for future use on the project. Using recycled asphalt reduces the amount of additional raw aggregate and asphalt oil needed to produce asphalt concrete pavement.