Construction begins on $50-million Sunnyside Flood Barrier in Calgary

The City of Calgary is breaking crushed connected a caller flood mitigation task on nan Bow River, meant to protect nan communities of Hillhurst and Sunnyside aft nan communities were devastated by flooding 11 years ago.

Calgary saw much than $6 cardinal successful damages and much than 100,000 group evacuated successful nan June 2013 floods, which kickstarted a bid of flood mitigation projects passim nan metropolis successful nan years following.

At 2.4-km agelong pinch an estimated costs of $50 million, nan Sunnyside Flood Barrier task is group to beryllium built connected nan northbound broadside of nan Bow River betwixt 14 Street N.W. and Centre Street.

“This obstruction will minimize nan request for individual consequence and supply information successful a measurement that is proactive and protects america agelong into nan future,” Mayor Jyoti Gondek said during a groundbreaking ceremonial Thursday.

According to nan city, nan obstruction will usage a operation of imperishable and expanse flood walls, arsenic good arsenic impermanent features for illustration sandbags, and demountable flood walls to beryllium utilized erstwhile stream flows increase.

It is expected to protect nan communities against a one-in-100-year flood, akin to nan levels successful 2013.

While it is higher protection than nan primitively planned one-in-20-year flood protection, it is little than nan one-in-200-year flood protection for which organization organizations person been advocating.

“That’s wherever we’ve landed,” said Charlie Lund, chair of nan Hillhurst-Sunnyside Community Association’s flood committee. “That provides very bully protection, possibly not fantabulous protection, but we’re going to consciousness very good protected erstwhile this is complete.”

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The first shape of building is expected to statesman adjacent week, pinch closures on nan stream pathway and successful nan eastbound lanes of Memorial Drive betwixt 14 Street and 10 Street N.W.

Both eastbound lanes of Memorial Drive will beryllium closed betwixt Centre St and 9 Street N.W. later this month, and nan closures are expected to past until nan fall.

“While location will beryllium short-term inconveniences , nan semipermanent benefits will importantly outweigh them,” City of Calgary infrastructure services wide head Michael Thompson said.

The task is besides group to see improvements to nan pathway web connected nan northbound broadside of nan Bow River, but will require nan removal of 337 trees, 22 of which person already been removed.

The metropolis said removing trees is simply a past resort, and that nan task will spot nan replanting of 280 caller trees, flowers and shrubs.

The task is expected to beryllium complete successful 2026, and will require connected and disconnected disruptions on Memorial Drive and nan pathway web for nan adjacent 2 years.