The City of Calgary says work to “urgently” expedite construction of a replacement for the recently ruptured and repaired Bearspaw South Feeder Main will begin Jan. 23.
The project will involve the construction of a steel pipe of the same size and parallel to the existing pipe.
The city says that in time, the new feeder main will take over service from the existing line, which Mayor Jeromy Farkas has described as being “terminally ill” after it experienced a catastrophic rupture twice in less than two years and is in urgent need of replacement.
“Our council is united in challenging our administration to do in one single year what would otherwise take four years,” Farkas told reporters Thursday.
The project is scheduled to be complete in 2026, after original timelines had its completion date sometime in 2028.
The replacement of the pipe will also involve tunnelling under a number of busy roadways, including 16th Avenue (TCH), the Bow River, Sarcee Trail and the CPKC rail line.
The city says that work crews will begin setting up at several work sites on Friday, including:
- Edworthy Park, near a section of the Bow River Pathway in the Edworthy Park North Parking lot
- Shouldice Park, between 16 Avenue N.W. and Bowness Road N.W.
- Sarcee Trail site, near 73 Street N.W. and Bonita Crescent N.W.
The work will include setting up construction signage, temporary fences and offices, tree protection measures, including the removal of trees when necessary, and mobilization of heavy equipment.
The city is also asking motorists and residents to keep an eye out for crews working in the area to protect their safety.
The first stage of the project will be located at the Shaganappi Pump Station, near the intersection of Bowness Road and Shaganappi Trail, extending to 73 Street northwest on the west side of the Bow River.
The second stage of the project, set to run from 73 Street N.W. to 89 Street N.W., is undergoing design, and city officials said more information is expected to be released soon.
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“You will also see construction equipment out in the community of Bowness as we’re doing investigations to determine how we’re going to deliver that last two kilometres,” City of Calgary Infrastructure Services general manager Michael Thompson told reporters.
Residents who live in Bowness told Global News that city crews have been working throughout the area since the feeder main’s rupture on Dec. 30, but communication from officials on potential impacts has been lacking.
“It’s just this uncertainty that we have in terms of what is happening,” Christina Pilarski said. “There’s spraypaint all over our street again, they’ve marked front yards with stakes, we see people in and out all the time.”
Pilarski said the uncertainty is exacerbated by memories following the feeder main’s original break in June 2024, when large sections of her Bowness street were a construction zone for weeks as crews made additional repairs to weak spots identified along the line.
City officials said Thursday disruptions to residents are likely due to the speed the project is advancing.
“There will definitely be disruption as we deliver this project, we are not sure what that looks like yet,” Thompson said. “We apologize to anyone living and working around those areas as we need to advance this critical infrastructure.”
The City of Calgary cancelled its normal competitive bid process and instead awarded a sole-source contract for the twinning of the Bearspaw Feeder Main.
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The project’s acceleration is expected to be costly, but the estimated costs for the feeder main’s replacement aren’t yet known.
Farkas said he expects it to cost “hundreds of millions of dollars.”
When asked if he was comfortable with city crews starting the project with costs still unknown, Ward 6 Coun. John Pantazopoulos said the project is critical as the ailing feeder main carries 60 per cent of the city’s drinking water with no redundancy.
“We cannot have potable water shortages in the city of Calgary,” he said. “We have to spend that money, it doesn’t mean we’re spending it willy nilly, there’s going to be accountability.”
More details on the project are available on the city’s website at calgary.ca/BSFMproject.
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