| Owner | Town of Canmore |
| Project | New Flood Retention Structure |
| Location | 0.5 km Northeast of Canmore, AB |
| Size | 300 m long x 30 m high |
| Role | Engineering Design, Geotechnical Engineering, Environmental, Project and Construction Management |
The Town of Canmore requires a debris flood retention structure at Cougar Creek to capture debris and attenuate flood flows during extreme storm events such that flows downstream of the retention structure do not cause further erosion and damage to Town infrastructure, the Trans Canada Highway or the CPR main railway line and major utilities.
The structure is located in a trafficked area for hikers and back country campers and public interaction is expected to be very high during summer season. A high rock face, uneven surface, tall concrete structures, and potential for rapid change in the water levels are potential hazards.
Construction began in July 2020 and is scheduled to be complete by November, 2021 with commissioning to follow in the summer of 2022.
Since this is the first structure owned and operated by the Town of Canmore, public safety policy development and implementation, risk assessment, and designing control measures are under development with the Town.
The Project team is very experienced with CDA guidelines on dam safety and public safety around dams. The team has worked with different dam owners and developed policies, signage, safety boom, and other components of public safety around structures.
Key features include:
- Rock fill structure with sheet pile core.
- Rock cut spillway
- Low Level Outlet (3.1 m diameter) conduit with concreted riprap outlet
- Major traffic management and public safety program is being developed for the construction period
- Public interaction and safety around the structure for operation is under development with the Town of Canmore