CALGARY- City crews are racing against the approaching spring thaw, in an attempt to shore up the banks of the Bow River.
Water Services is working on stabilizing Memorial Drive at 19 St. N.W., in an attempt to protect an Enmax substation.
“We are confident that is going to stand a one in a hundred flood, but the other piece is the actual flooding of the substation itself,” explains senior planning engineer Frank Frigo. “That is where our plan is focused, on looking at number of measures to make sure if water does get into the substation the substation will still function.”
Enmax will spend half a million dollars to flood proof the building, while the city is spending $67 million to protect 35 kilometres along the river. While officials are doing everything they can to brace critical infrastructure from future flooding, there is still concern.
“We are confident. However, we will still be nervous and still be watching,” says Andre van Dijk from Enmax.
The city expects the projects will be completed ahead of the annual snow melt, but landscaping and some cleanup work will have to wait until the summer.
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