Project Update - July 5, 2021 - West Calgary Ring Road

What’s Happening in Traffic This Week

Overnight Work at Stoney Trail / Trans-Canada Highway Interchange

Each night from Monday, July 5 to Saturday, July 10, crews will be working from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. to grout post-tensioning cable ducts on several bridges at the Stoney Trail / Trans-Canada Highway interchange. The high daytime temperatures exceed the specified temperatures for the grout.

The work is happening on the southeast side of the interchange away from homes and is not expected to impact adjacent residents. Lighting will be used as required and directed away from residences.

Crestmont Boulevard S.W. Single Lane Alternating Traffic

Single lane alternating traffic will continue along Crestmont Boulevard S.W. for utility work until July 6.

REMINDER: Lower Springbank Road S.W. Single Lane of Alternating Traffic

ENMAX will be working along Lower Springbank Road S.W. to decommission overhead power lines until July 9. A single lane of alternating traffic will be in place adjacent to the areas where they are working.

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.

1 Avenue / 101 Street S.W. Roundabout

When a vehicle turns around a corner, the rear wheels follow a shorter path than the front wheels – this is referred to as off-tracking. Off-tracking is more pronounced in larger vehicles, so roundabouts sometimes include a truck apron that provides room for larger vehicles to safely maneuver the turn without hitting fixed objects or other vehicles.

Looking southeast at the finished grades for the roundabout

Deck Pour on the Largest Bridge

The southbound Stoney Trail mainline bridge over the Trans-Canada Highway is the largest on the North project. It has 18 girders spanning 96 metres, which translates to about 1,000 cubic metres or one million litres of concrete for the bridge deck. The deck was poured in two stages: the north and south ends and then the middle.

When concrete is poured in stages, the first pour begins to cure before the second pour, which creates a cold joint. A cold joint is where the two concrete pours meet. A bulkhead is a naval term that means partition and is also used to describe the form used to create the cold joint.

The wooden bulkhead creates a clean cold joint between the first pour and the second pour

New Ramp Opening Soon

The ramp from southbound Stoney Trail to eastbound Trans-Canada Highway has been paved and traffic is expected to be shifted in the near future. Once traffic has been shifted off the existing ramp, work can begin on the northbound Stoney Trail mainline bridge.

June 15, 2021 – Looking east, vehicles are visible on the existing ramp behind the barriers on the left of the photo

Mainline Stoney Trail

After 200+ controlled blasts spanning more than a year, road construction south of the Trans-Canada Highway is making visible progress.

At the north end of the Paskapoo Slope, an excavator cuts a ditch for the median

Building Up the Trans-Canada Highway

A lot of work (and earth!) has gone into raising the elevation of the Trans-Canada Highway just west of Valley Ridge Boulevard N.W.

Old Banff Coach Road S.W. Interchange

With the centre piers largely complete, work is focused on the bridge abutments.

Looking east at the centre piers and piling for the east abutment in the background

17 Avenue S.W. Interchange

Don’t blink or you’ll miss it! Just a few weeks ago the mud slab for this foundation was poured, and now the formwork and rebar have been installed, concrete poured and cured, and forms stripped away.

June 28, 2021– The concrete is cured and the forms removed

Grading the SWCRR Gravel Site

Approximately five million cubic metres of gravel was extracted from the area between Old Banff Coach Road S.W. and Bow Trail S.W. and used on the Southwest Calgary Ring Road (SWCRR) project.