Project Update - August 23, 2021 - West Calgary Ring Road

What’s Happening in Traffic This Week

101 Street S.W. Reduced to One Lane

Until August 31, a portion of 101 Street S.W. south of Heritage Woods Drive S.W. will operate as a single lane of alternating traffic with temporary traffic signals for utility work in the area.

Canada Olympic Drive S.W. Now Open

The utility work at Canada Olympic Drive S.W. is complete and the road has reopened. Thank you for your patience during the closure.

Girder Deliveries at Old Banff Coach Road S.W.

Girder deliveries continue this week requiring short traffic stoppages lasting about five minutes on Old Banff Coach Road S.W.

*A girder arrives at the Old Banff Coach Road S.W. interchange site*

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. For all other project information, please visit westringroad.ca.

We appreciate your patience during construction.

Eastbound Trans-Canada Highway to Stoney Trail Ramp

Embankment construction is underway on the south side of the Trans-Canada Highway, east of Valley Ridge Boulevard N.W.

Looking east, the start of the embankment for the bridge approach is visible

Stoney Trail Storm Lines

Storm lines are being installed on either side of Stoney Trail to capture the surface water runoff and convey it to stormwater management ponds. Localized controlled blasts were used to excavate bedrock for the trenches.

These boulders are from excavating the storm line trench

Slip Forming Concrete Barriers

West of Valley Ridge Boulevard N.W., where the new and improved Trans-Canada Highway lanes have been paved, the concrete barrier between the eastbound and westbound lanes has been installed using an extrusion machine. Extrude – the opposite of intrude – means forced out. In the context of concrete barriers, the concrete is continuously poured into the machine and pushed through a ‘slip’ or moving form.

The barrier will be extruded over an electrical conduit for street lighting

String lines are an ancient tool used to mark straight and level lines between two points. String lines guide the extrusion machine to keep the barrier straight and maintain a consistent height.

Stands are placed at specific intervals to hold the string line

A guide on the extruding machine follows the string line

Old Banff Coach Road S.W. Girder Installations

The girder deliveries are staggered over multiple evenings because each girder is lifted straight off the truck and onto the abutment and centre pier columns, rather than unloading and storing them on site. All 13 girders on the east bridge span have been installed, and girder installation on the west span is ongoing.

*The first girder is lifted off the truck and into place by two large cranes; the truck with the second girder is on the left of the photo waiting to move into position*

Bow Trail S.W.

Springbank Ravine

Dust Management

There is a LOT of earthworks happening in this area, and across the South project site. Water trucks are constantly moving around the site to keep the dust down.

17 Avenue S.W. Interchange

Structural backfill is soil that has been screened to remove rocks and organic matter. Without these ‘impurities’ the soil is highly compactible and can be used in construction to replace natural soil excavated to build a structure.