Heavy Civil

Cougar Creek Flood Debris Retention Structure

Ironclad Earthworks acted as the prime contractor for the Cougar Creek Flood Debris Retention Structure project in Canmore, Alberta. This project involved constructing a significant flood mitigation structure to protect the area from debris floods.

KEY DETAILS

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Contract Value

$20,583,345

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Project Owner

Town of Canmore

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Completion Date

August 2024

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Project Role

Prime Contractor

Scope of Work

  • Construction of a 50-meter-high rock-filled embankment dam with upstream and downstream faces covered by soil and seeded.
  • A 20-meter-wide rock-cut spillway on the east abutment with wildlife egress areas.
  • Drilling and pressure grouting.
  • Embankment construction with a sheet pile core wall built within the bedrock.
  • Rock blasting and processing.
  • Dewatering and pumping.
  • Earthworks.
  • Topsoil placement and hydroseeding.
  • Reinforced cast-in-place concrete structures.

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Resources & Challenges

  • Total Crew: 45 Persons
  • Equipment Used:
    ‍    12 Excavators, 8 Rock Trucks, 4 Dozers, 4 Compactors, specialized equipment for grout curtain drilling and installation, and drilling and blast operations.
  • Challenges:
  • A tight schedule requires completion before the upcoming flood season.
  • Managing to change ground conditions to balance material requirements for the flood retention structure.
  • The project required 24-hour workdays and seven-day workweeks for three consecutive months to meet the aggressive schedule.

Project Timeline

//   May 2023

Drilling & Pressure Grouting

Ironclad completes the grout curtain in bedrock that required 46 holes including 450 linear meters of drilling and 8,150 liters of pressure grouting required to complete this scope.

//   May 2024

Sheet Pile Core Wall & Concrete Work

Ironclad completes 3,200 m2 of sheet pile core wall built on and within the confines of bedrock that required 420 m3 of reinforced cast-in-place concrete.

//   July 2024

Embankment Structure

Ironclad completes the rock embankment structure that has a total height of 50 meters and required 180,000m3 of rock backfill obtained from the onsite blasting operations required for the spillway. 

//   September 2024

Spillway and Concrete Work

Ironclad completes the diversion spillway that is drilled 
and blasted into the bedrock proximate to the embankment structure on the east side. The work required 109,000 m3 
of drill and blast rock excavation and 352 m3 of reinforced cast-in-place concrete.

//   October 2024

Final Dam Commissioning

Ironclad completes all the electrical and mechanical scopes and successfully commissions the dam and turns asset over to the Town of Canmore.

TESTIMONIAL

Ironclad successfully completed three high-quality projects for the Town of Canmore, including the complex Cougar Creek dam. I look forward to working with them again.

Félix Camiré, Project Engineer, Town of Canmore | Cougar Creek Project

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