Construction around Cranbrook has been taking off, as the city’s 2024 capital works projects get underway.
City officials said the proposed 2024 paving program has staff monitoring the conditions of Cranbrook’s streets as the ongoing freeze-thaw cycle continues to cause some major damage across the community.
“These continued cycles severely weaken the base gravel under the roads and are creating these major failures,” said city officials. “Staff will continue to closely monitor the streets this spring and work with Public Works to determine which roads can be patched and identify those that need larger capital works replacement.”
City officials said they have identified two priority locations for replacement: the intersection of 6th Street NW and Industrial Road 1, and significant lengths of the outside lanes along Victoria Avenue, from Highway 3 to Western Financial Place.
“Other locations may become the priority depending on what happens over the next month with the current cycles of freezing and thawing,” said Curtis Mummery, Manager of Roads and Infrastructure. “The final list of locations for our paving program will be determined once this cycle is complete, and we can make the final assessments. We will continue to use our asset management practices and principles to prioritize the projects we will undertake this year.”
Meanwhile, reconstruction of 12th Avenue South from 2nd Street South to 3rd Street South is currently out for Request For Proposals (RFP), which officials expect to close on Mar 28
“This project is proposed to include new water main and all new services to each property line, curb, gutter and sidewalk, updated drainage infrastructure and new hot mix asphalt paving,” said city staff.
Elsewhere, the water main crossing project at Highway 95 near Denham Ford and Sandor Rental is also out for RFP, and city officials said it will close at the end of this week.
“The new water main crossing the highway will be in a steel casing for easy future access to repairs and maintenance, as the existing line is undersized and in poor condition,” said city staff.
The city expects work to start in April and wrap up by the end of May.
Across the highway, Phase 2 of the lagoon bypass pipe is moving forward at a steady pace. City officials said Copcan Civil LP is on track to finish the job on time, with the remaining special-order materials and equipment either on-site or in transit.
“Work remaining from phase 1 is substantially complete with some minor clean up and finishing work once the weather conditions improve,” said city officials. “Several key milestones in the phase 2 work are complete with the two control chambers being installed, which control the elevation of the water in the lagoon cells.”
Phase 2 of the bypass piping has about 150 metres left to install, along with the lagoon cell tie-ins.
“The contractor will also install the slide gates and stop logs inside the control chambers and complete the final commissioning and electrical controls with both site cleanup and final grading to wrap up the project,” said city officials.