Removing the last reminders of the flood

The memory of June’s destructive flooding is still fresh in the minds of many southern Albertans. On Wednesday, the city was working to remove some of those telltale signs. The last reminders of the flood’s destruction, two massive trees, were hauled out of the Oldman River underneath Whoop-Up Drive.

“This was probably the biggest that I’ve seen in my 10 years with the city of Lethbridge,” said Richard Brummund, manager of road infrastructure. “It was a little more than a hook to get it out.”

Traffic was reduced to one lane to make room for a crane with enough power to pry the trunks loose. Removing the lodged trees was a precautionary measure as it could cause significant damage to the bridge down the road.

“If the logs get in there and they get close to the bottom of the river bed, then what it does is the water goes around (it) and it produces scouring and eventually could make it unstable,” said Brummund.

It takes years for that kind of erosion to pose a threat to the bridge, but the city isn’t taking any chances.

“I think we’re proposing next year to do some diving because we’ve had three or four high water floods,” said Brummund. “So it’s time to do some diving and some radar to make sure around the piers and the riverbed hasn’t been effected.”

City workers made quick work of the massive tree trunks, opening up all three lanes of Whoop Up drive in just under three hours. The trees were placed on the riverbank to be cut into smaller pieces and disposed of.