Calgarians are being thanked for cooperating with the City of Calgary during the damage control of the Bearspaw south feeder main break, which happened one year ago, June 5, 2024. “Looking back at the past year I’m impressed by how much work we progressed with the support of Calgarians who played an integral role in keeping demand low while we executed essential repairs,” said Michael Thompson, general manager of infrastructure services, in a release that comes on the heels of Sonya Sharp gathering a group at the site of the break on Thursday morning.In the release, the City of Calgary detailed the steps it has taken to get an understanding on why the feeder main broke, “supporting the reliability of the pipe and plans for greater redundancy in Calgary’s water distribution system."The break significantly impacted the city’s supply of drinking water supply and severely disrupted Calgarians in nearby communities, particularly Bowness and Montgomery. “The break prompted an urgent and innovative response from city crews, partners and the community, reads the release. “While crews worked quickly to redirect water flow across the city to maintain water service, Calgarians stepped up by reducing their water use, helping to stabilize the system and support our recovery.” .Since the break, the city says it has completed 29 repairs, identified all factors causing it and began implementation of important steps to strengthen Calgary’s water system for the future. “This includes completing urgent repairs, implementing new tools to detect and manage future risks and participating in several in-depth reviews, both internal and independent,” reads the release, which details actions taken over the past year: Emergency repair of the break completed June 2024; The damaged section of pipe was removed and replaced; Service was restored on June 16, 2024; Five urgent hotspot repairs completed June 2024; Twenty-one planned urgent repairs completed September 2024; Two planned urgent repairs completed November 2024. The city is using fibre optic technology to continually monitor the pipe, and it says it has developed an enhanced emergency response plan and expanded its critical parts inventory to support emergency repairs. “A detailed pipe investigation was conducted by Associated Engineering with the support of Pure Technologies to understand the factors that led to the deterioration and failure of the feeder main,” reads the release. “From the findings, the report indicated that there was not one specific factor that led to the failure, but rather a combination of aging infrastructure and environmental conditions such as high chloride concentrations.” .In April of this year, Calgary city council received a report from city administration highlighting lessons learned and opportunities to improve emergency response, internal coordination, communications and future infrastructure planning. A full review is underway, after a practice review was completed in May. “APEGA, the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of Alberta, recently completed a practice review confirming that we have strong systems in place to monitor, assess and manage our critical infrastructure,” reads the release. An independent review panel was also formed to take an in-depth look at all aspects of the city’s water utility, including its operations, maintenance, planning, asset management, governance and budgeting, with findings expected to be released by the end of this year. Looking into the future, “Calgary’s water system teams are now accelerating major infrastructure projects to improve water system reliability and support future growth,” says the release. While the Bearspaw South Feeder Main will be undergoing further improvements to support long-term resiliency, construction of a new 22-kilometre feeder main in north Calgary will begin this summer and the design of a new 25-kilometre feeder main in south Calgary is starting. .“We continue to be committed to building a stronger water system that will meet the needs of Calgary and the surrounding areas for generations to come,” said Thompson. “With the support of many partners, we have made significant progress over the past year. Looking ahead, we will continue to prioritize transparency, continuous improvement and collaboration.
