Preliminary work is now underway to repair an additional 21 locations of concern along the Bearspaw Feeder Main along 33 Avenue NW, marking a month of construction that will affect residents in Bowness.

The work is set to run from Aug. 21 to Sept. 26, which began on Wednesday with crews cutting concrete and asphalt. Starting next week, Calgarians will be back in Stage 4 outdoor water restrictions and voluntary indoor water conservation to preserve the available water supply.

That work is set to continue until the weekend, when city crews will install safety fencing around the repair locations, followed by digging starting on Aug. 26. That will mean the removal of dirt and gravel around the pipe locations, followed again by the installation of trench boxes and the pouring of concrete over repaired pipe sections.

At the heart of the complex work being undertaken is the desire to ensure that it is done safely for both the construction crews and the residents affected, City of Calgary officials said.

“Why I’m here is safety. I was a repair lead for those five hot spots we did on 16th Ave in June, and I just want to make sure it’s safe. It’s a dynamic, moving site,” said Darren Finney, Leader at Wastewater and Stormwater for the City of Calgary.

He said that during the upcoming month of work, crews would be working 24/7 to conduct the repair work, although not necessarily 24 hours a day.

“If we pour concrete and we’re just waiting for the concrete to dry and cure, we’re not going to have someone sitting here overnight watching it dry,” Finney said

The city will be determining if residents have any special access needs during the period, but the goal was to ensure that access to homes—although not necessarily driveways—would be available throughout the repair work.

“The plan is they can have access to their house. They might have to park off site or on a side street or in the back alley or something, but the plan is to have access 24 hours,” Finney said.

“We have the fencing going up, and some of the fencing restricted accesses to the houses, so we’re adjusting our fencing and making sure that they have access to their house.”

Residential access top concern for residents says area councillor

Ward 1 Councillor Sonya Sharp said that her office had received multiple calls, emails, and direct messages on social media about the repair work from people living on 33 Avenue NW.

“The biggest question I’ve had on the street is accessibility issues. There’s a lot of elderly folks that live on the street, and so we want to make sure that those that are impacted: How are they getting to their homes? How are they getting to their vehicles? Moms and dads with small children and bucket seats,” Sharp said.

“This is going to be different. You’re not going to just get out of your driveway, pull out and go about your day and drive your kids to school. You may have to walk, or walk to come home with groceries. What does that look like? So those are things that we’ve heard.”

She said that she’s also heard from residents about what safety will look like if there is an emergency and vehicles like fire trucks have to access the community.

“Obviously the city is working on all of that. Safety is a top priority for this street, and we have to make sure that you’re living your life as best as you can while the construction is happening—it’s not going to be your normal,” Sharp said.

She said that the message to Calgarians from the City was thank you for putting up with the water issues throughout the summer.

“The second message I have is, you might not live in Bowness or Montgomery or Parkdale, but please understand that they have gone through a lot, and we just need your help a little bit longer in order to follow the restrictions so construction can happen,” Sharp said.

“What that means is, crews get in, they fix and they get out, and there is a time limit on this. We always say that it’s hard to put a time limit on construction, but we do need to be in and out of this area by the end of September.”

City of Calgary puts blame on local media for safety on construction sites

The City of Calgary took aim at the media as part of their safety messaging on Wednesday, blaming the presence of cameras and drones at construction sites during the repair work on 16 Avenue NW for causing safety issues.

“What I found before was the workers were getting distracted by the cameras because they’re not used to the cameras. So when that guy is using that blade going at 2000 rpm, he’s busy looking at the reporter and not concentrating on what he’s doing. So it’ll be easier once the fences go back up,” said Finney.

Worksite injuries occurred on the repair of the feeder pipe on 16 Avenue on June 13, after a chain broke while workers were installing a metal collar on a section of pipe.

Finney also took aim at the media taking photos and video of the initial work to cut the road, during a pre-planned City of Calgary media availability that invited media in Calgary to come and take photos and video of the work being undertaken.

“It’s a dynamic, moving site and all that. I’m glad I came early because I saw lots of things that you guys were doing that are good examples of what not to do, walking out into the street in traffic. Don’t forget, people still live here, and they’re trying to get in and out of the residences,” he said.

During the morning construction, staff held stop signs to block traffic on the roadway.

“I got to just ask, if you just stay a little bit back if you want to take your photos and stuff. As we did previously, we’re going to have a city photographer come out every day and take photos and make those available to you guys to use. The City is going to be doing drone flights like we did last time, and we’ll be making that video available to use as well.”

The city said that further details on the work would be provided on August 22.