Another berm nears completion, just one to go

By Gillian Slade on August 11, 2018.

gslade@medicinehatnews.com  @MHNGillianSlade

Two of the final three berms to provide protection from flood waters are close to completion, with the third expected to be constructed in 2019.

The first phase berm, considered to be “substantively complete,” starts at the end of the Lions Park berm, near the Heritage Pavilion in Strathcona Island Park, and continues parallel to Medalta up to the abandoned CPR spur line tracks, municipal works manager Dwight Brown told the development and infrastructure committee this week.

Crews could be seen Friday completing landscaping on a section of this berm.

Berm construction, awarded to MJB Construction at $1.23 million, was supervised by an archaeologist, but nothing of substance was found during construction.

Phase two sees a berm from south of Industrial Avenue up to the CPR main line in proximity to Seven Persons Creek. This berm is expected to be complete in October, said Brown. The tender value of the contract was $1.86 million.

When there is the threat of a flood, a temporary barrier will be put in place across Industrial Avenue connecting the berms built in phase one and phase two, said Brown.

The third phase of the berm will tie-in phase one and phase two from the CPR abandoned spur line south to Industrial Avenue.

“Land negotiations are continuing on this last phase and we are hopeful those will be completed in 2018, with tender and construction to be completed in 2019,” Brown said, adding the first two phases of berm construction went “very well.”

The total cost of the three-phase project is about $7.5 million, and encompasses roughly $5.5 million in federal and provincial grants, he explained. The total cost also includes the various berm construction components, as well as land purchases, engineering, and utility relocates for all three phases.

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