On June 22, Graham assisted Whissell Contracting with repairing one of the five hotspots involved with the ongoing emergency force water main repairs for the City of Calgary.
During the initial excavation, utility contractors discovered that an adjacent concrete thrust block surrounded the damaged section of the pipe. The City of Calgary and their engineer decided to use a cast-in-place concrete reinforcing block to repair this section of the pipe instead of opting for a total replacement as originally planned, Graham assisted with the forming and pouring of the concrete.
On Wednesday, June 19, Graham received the support request. Less than 12 hours later, on Thursday morning, a crew and formworks were on-site to pour this 20 m³ block. Following some challenges with obtaining rebar, the crew worked through the night on Friday to prepare it for a pour on Saturday afternoon. The team collaborated and executed this work safely without incidents.
Additional Support Work
In addition to the work on Calgary’s force water main repairs, the City of Calgary requested Graham’s assistance with upgrading two pump stations to support Calgary’s water distribution system. Graham installed new piping at two pump stations to allow the pumps to back-feed into adjacent reservoirs. This will enable reservoirs to feed their distribution areas via gravity and ensure an adequate supply and backup for emergencies. The crews completed this work at the first pump station within 48 hours of being contacted.
Work on the pump stations also led to additional tasks at the main Bearspaw water treatment plant, where crews will add a new pressure-reducing valve later this week to help manage pressure surges in the water distribution system due to recent changes.
