All this rain is making it difficult for city crews to repair the roads and bridges that were damaged and destroyed during June's floods but despite the wet conditions they are making progress.

Six weeks ago the flooding in the downtown and several communities in low lying areas caused millions of dollars in damage to infrastructure and property.

The city has made remarkable progress since then but says some jobs just can’t be completed until the weather cooperates.

“Basically we’ve had rain every night since and it’s really had an impact on some of the work we’re trying to do around the city, normal work I would say in terms of putting down new sidewalks and curb and gutter and new asphalt and so it’s really played a, August has not been a typical August. I’d say that the summer has not been a typical summer in Calgary and so it’s been a challenge for us for sure,” said Ryan Jestin, Director of Roads for the City of Calgary.

Jestin says that so far his department has spent about $25 M on road repair.

“We’re about $25 million, is how far we’re into it so far but honestly about 99 percent of the city road networks are back up to speed so that’s a pretty close estimate,” said Jestin.

Jestin says there are about 5000 kilometres of roads in the city and approximately 20 kilometres were damaged in the floods.

The rain is slowing road and bridge work somewhat and the city says its traffic bridges fared well but the pedestrian bridges were hit hard.

“We had nine that were impacted, three here on the Elbow River, three in some of the parks around the city and three others on the Bow River,” said Craig MacFarlane, the Chief Structures Engineer with the City of Calgary Roads Department.

Macfarlane says they will rebuild the three bridges over the Elbow because they are an important part of the pathway system.

“Our plan right now is just to get the debris down so it’s safe for the river users and the public and the new bridges will be built to the current highway standards,” said MacFarlane.

MacFarlane says he thinks it will be at least a year before the rebuilding process gets underway but that all nine of the bridges will be rebuilt or repaired.

He estimates it will cost between $2 and $3 million to replace each of the three bridges over the Elbow and the other six will be about $500,000 all together to repair.

The city has set up another information session to give people impacted by the floods a chance to speak with city services and external service providers about their concerns.

The next info session will be held on:

  • Thursday, August 15, 2013
    4 - 8 p.m.
    Christ Church
    3602 8th Street S.W.

The city is holding the flood information sessions in partnership with various community associations and organizations.

For more information on flood resources, visit the city’s flood recovery website.

The City of Calgary has created a timeline laying out the key events of the flooding including facts, photos and videos to create an interactive view of the YYC Flood 2013.
 

YYC Flood Timeline 2013