Project Update - August 31, 2020 - West Calgary Ring Road

For up-to-date information on traffic detours and speed reductions, please visit 511 Alberta.

We appreciate your patience during construction.

Back to School

As many children head back to school this week after the summer break and the COVID-19 shutdown, traffic may seem busier than normal this September. Please exercise extra caution, especially when passing through areas near to schools or where children may be walking, biking or getting on and off school buses

Back to school facts:

Nearly 6,000 school buses in Alberta safely transport almost 300,000 children to and from school every weekday.
Almost half of drivers involved in collisions with school buses committed a driver error, the most common of which was following too closely (2016/17 school year).
80 per cent of casualty collisions and 92 per cent of property damage collisions involving a school bus occurred in urban areas.

Tips for drivers:

Allow extra time for your commute.
Observe speed limits for school zones and playground zones. Slow down in residential areas, where kids may be walking or biking to school.
Obey the direction of crossing guards.
Keep an eye out for children who may dart out into traffic from sidewalks or from between parked vehicles.
Always give school buses plenty of room and look for flashing lights.

Bridge Pier Construction

Looking south at the cast-in-place pier segments

On the south side of the river, the cofferdam is almost fully excavated to prepare for the in-river pier foundation

Southbound Stoney Trail Roadworks and Drainage

Paving continues on the missing link that will connect the new bridge with the Trans-Canada Highway interchange

Expect Delays on Trans-Canada Highway This Week

From Wednesday, September 2 to Tuesday, September 8, the Trans-Canada Highway will be reduced to one lane in both directions, west of Valley Ridge Boulevard N.W. These closures will be in place from 8am – 3:30pm and are required for detour construction. Loading and hauling the gravel required for the detour is not allowed overnight due to permit restrictions.

Delays are anticipated and motorists are encouraged to find alternate routes, such as Old Banff Coach Road and Highway 1A. Please plan accordingly and check Alberta 511 . Thank you for your patience as we complete this work.

Temporary Bridge Over Valley Ridge Boulevard N.W.

Last week crews assembled the 35 pre-cast concrete deck panels and five prefabricated girders for the temporary bridge over Valley Ridge Boulevard N.W. The new permanent bridge and the temporary bridge will form a detour for Trans-Canada Highway traffic while the two remaining bridges for the Valley Ridge Boulevard N.W. interchange are constructed.

Looking south at temporary bridge with prefabricated girders installed

Looking west at the newly installed pre-cast deck panels

The temporary Mechanically Stabilized Earth walls consist of high-strength geosynthetic reinforcing strips connected to wire mesh facing. The system provides a cost-effective solution for temporary applications where aesthetics are not critical, concrete is cost prohibitive, or heavy lifting is not feasible.

For temporary solutions, geotextile is placed on the back face of the wire mesh to allow for drainage and to prevent loss of backfill

Retaining Wall Adjacent to Valley Ridge Heights

The Mechanically Stabilized Earth (MSE) wall and stand-alone portion of the retaining wall adjacent to Valley Ridge Heights are nearly complete.

Valley Ridge Boulevard N.W. Roundabout

Interior curb and gutter for the roundabout has been extruded

Extrusion is a process where a concrete mixture is continuously fed into an extruding machine, which compacts the concrete and expels a continuous curb which can be shaped or formed in unlimited ways.

Mountable curb for the truck apron has been extruded in addition to the interior mountable curb

Truck aprons allow large vehicles, trucks, buses and recreational vehicles to navigate the roundabout or turn without striking fixed objects or other road users.

With the curb and gutter in place, the roundabout is now ready to be paved. Paving is scheduled to get underway this week (weather permitting).

Splicing Piles

Crews have been working on splicing and welding piles for the south abutment on the largest bridge on the North project. Splicing pile becomes necessary when the foundation soil is deeper than the length of the pile and two sections of pile must be combined.

Splice plates are welded to the steel H pile extension

First extended pile for the south abutment welded into place

Building Embankments

*Image courtesy of* *Ground Improvement Case Histories*

The foundation soils beneath a bridge’s embankments and abutments are critical to the bridge’s performance.

Most embankments are constructed by conventional “rolled earth” procedures. This involves placing suitable soil materials in thin layers and compacting them with rollers. The soil is brought to the site from borrow pits (an onsite pit from which construction material is taken for use as fill at another location) and spread by bulldozers. Each layer is thoroughly compacted using rollers of specifically designed weights.