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Water main break discussion

3 weeks would have it ending just when Stampede starts. I imagine that's the target
Also this extension is because 5 other locations were found along the pipe that need repairing. It'll be very interesting what they reveal about the reasoning for the damage.
 
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IMO anything more than another 2 weeks is ridiculous though. For such a critical piece of infrastructure, there needs to be a way to work 24/7 on all damaged sections simultaneously. (I know it's not a simple thing to do, and they say they're trying to find a way, but I really think this highlights how slow government is) It's not possible to keep delaying showers and washing (like they've been recommending) for that long, which we're already seeing with use across the city beginning to increase again.

I wonder if they've explored any options to add say a temporary above ground pipe from the Bearpaw treatment plant to the rest of the system to increase water availability, if its going to take 3 plus weeks.
 
This is an interesting article which notes a standards change in the early 70s to lower the robustness of prestressed concrete pipes.

Eeek. If true, I bet we now get a five year program to replace them all from the 70s.

piperepair.co.uk

The PCCP repair and reinforcement project caused by mistakes of the 70s

Below specification PCCP installed across the US in the 1970s has left Amercian water companies facing massive repair and reinforcement projects
piperepair.co.uk piperepair.co.uk
 
Start collecting it while you can.

IMG_4877.jpeg
 
Man I'm really glad not to be living in Calgary at the moment... I planted a ton of trees in my yard this spring and they've been very very thirsty. I have to imagine that a lot of newly planted trees this year aren't going to make it in Calgary
 
It has been a bit of a cooler, rainier spring, so that has helped quite a bit. If this was a hot dry spring like last year, a lot of lawns/landscaping would be looking much worse than they are.
 
This sounds like an issue that has plagued pipes from the 70’s and many American cities have had similar catastrophic failures.

piperepair.co.uk

The PCCP repair and reinforcement project caused by mistakes of the 70s

Below specification PCCP installed across the US in the 1970s has left Amercian water companies facing massive repair and reinforcement projects
piperepair.co.uk piperepair.co.uk

Basically they used less steel in the pipe thinking it was stronger, which causes the concrete to fail.
 
This was interesting:
Other options are also being considered, Gondek said, like using overland pipes to get water from the Bearspaw Water Treatment Plant into the various places that need it. However, she says these are “backup plans” under consideration at this time.

“We can’t make these types of significant decisions based on gut instinct alone.
Click to expand...
It is good thing options are being considered. It’s bad if penny wise pound foolish thinking has delayed investigating options until the emergency declaration.
 
Urban Outdoorsman said:
Man I'm really glad not to be living in Calgary at the moment... I planted a ton of trees in my yard this spring and they've been very very thirsty. I have to imagine that a lot of newly planted trees this year aren't going to make it in Calgary
Click to expand...
All the trees in Calgary look great right now, this is probably the perfect time to not be able to water.

Sounds like the additional breaks are all in the same area. Now I'm curious how much of this 11km line was inspected and how many other sections were built around the same time.
 
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Mountain Man said:
All the trees in Calgary look great right now, this is probably the perfect time to not be able to water.

Sounds like the additional breaks are all in the same area. Now I'm curious how much of this 11km line was inspected and how many other sections were built around the same time.
Click to expand...
One can follow the line on DMap. By clicking on the line you get the age and the materials.

A gis folk would likely be able to use the data set to make a quick map of similar pipes.
 
I think we're going to need to hear soon about the Stampede and what impacts it might have. I don't know for sure if the Stampede has a water use impact (in the way that it obviously has an electricity use impact with all the lights, sounds, etc), but I wouldn't be surprised if it did. From out-of-town visitors to a few hundred head of livestock that aren't normally on the water grid, to keeping dust down in the infield, there is water use. And even if it's not a massive spike in water use, it's a bad look to tell everybody else to have short showers and stinky toilets, but then let the Stampede go hog wild. It's a way to reinforce messaging, which would be good.
 
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