Project Update - West Calgary Ring Road

June 1, 2023

What’s Happening in Traffic

REMINDER: Temporary Traffic Signals and Pathway Detour at Crestmont Boulevard / 109 Street / 1 Avenue S.W. Intersection

Temporary traffic signals and a pathway detour are in place at the Crestmont Boulevard / 109 Street / 1 Avenue S.W. intersection for work on the pathway. Please expect minor delays.

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.

Managing Stormwater on Bridge Decks

Keeping water from pooling on the road is critical for safety and important for maintaining high-quality driving surfaces in the long term. Roads are designed with a subtle arch so stormwater runoff drains away from the middle. This arch is called cross slope or camber.

*Diagram illustrating road camber courtesy of* *civilengineeringweb.com*

For at-grade roads, runoff is typically directed to gutters, then to catch basins which connect to the underground stormwater pipes. Capturing runoff from bridge decks is similar but includes a concrete trough to carry the water down the slope. At the bottom of each drainage trough is an apron with large rock (rip rap) to slow the water down and prevent erosion. From there, the runoff will be directed to an appropriate drainage channel.

*Crews prepare to pour concrete for a drainage trough*

*Drainage troughs are often incorporated with guard rail posts as the troughs are installed at the ends of bridges*

*The photo on the right shows drainage troughs from two bridges on the Stoney Trail interchange discharging directly into a constructed wetland, shown on the left*

Bow Trail S.W. Interchange

Progress on the Bow Trail S.W. interchange is steady. As one of two full interchanges on the South project, providing access between Bow Trail and Stoney Trail in all directions, this interchange will be an important connection to the ring road.

*Underneath the Bow Trail bridge, the centre piers have been painted*

*An aerial photo looking east at the Bow Trail S.W. interchange, taken in April 2023*

*Guardrail is installed for the multi-use pathway on the north side of the Bow Trail bridge*

*Looking west at the south entrance to the pathway underpass*

*East of the bridge, grading for the road continues*

Wing Wall Construction on the Basketweave Bridge

Earlier this spring, the deck for the bridge taking northbound Stoney Trail traffic coming from Highway 8 over the exit ramp from northbound Stoney Trail to 17 Avenue S.W. was poured. Now, work on the abutment wing walls is underway.

Wing walls are found on both sides of a bridge abutment to create a three-sided box that gets filled with earth and provides the transition from the road to the bridge.

*The spacers with the green ends maintain the proper distance between the formwork and the rebar*

*Using a safety harness, a crew member inspects the rebar for the wing wall before the concrete is poured*

*A crew member applies a patching mortar to finish the surface of the wing wall after it’s been poured*

If you’re interested in more detail about wing walls, check out the September 14, 2020 and February 28, 2022 newsletters.