FORT MCMURRAY, ALTA. — The Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo is well underway with construction to protect the residents of Fort McMurray from flooding.
The rough cost of the project is $142 million. The municipality is funding $101 million from the capital infrastructure reserve with the remaining $41 million coming from provincial and federal grants.
“Flood mitigation within the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo has a lengthy, in-depth and technical history. Our region has a long history of overland flooding, with 17 notable floods since 1835, of which 16 have been ice jam flood events,” writes the municipality on the project webpage.
The municipality has broken the project up into 11 “reaches” which encompass various directives to improve flood safety along the Snye, Clearwater and Athabasca rivers.
Berms, retaining walls and a combination of both are being implemented throughout the reaches but a variety of techniques are being used to deliver these structures.
For example, at reach 11 the municipality is raising a section of Saline Creek Drive to serve as a flood barrier.
A report published by the municipality suggests flood levels for a 1:100-year event would reach 250 metres above sea level and a 1:200-year event would reach 250.4 metres.
The municipality is implementing a freeboard of .5 metres, meaning mitigation structures will be designed .5 metres above predicted flood levels, according to the project page.
As a result, the municipality has restricted habitable room development in areas of the town prone to flooding which sit below 250 metres.
The report notes the municipality is consulting with some landowners about possible property buyouts or the feasibility of raising their homes to be above 250 metre elevation.
So far, reaches one through four have all had berms or retaining walls constructed up to a 1:100-year flooding event with work underway to make them prepared for a 1:200-year event. All four reaches are scheduled for completion in 2023.
Reaches seven, eight and nine have also been completed. Reach five, six and 11 are scheduled for 2023 or early 2024 completion.
Due to the proximity of work being done on reach 11, completion for reach 10 has been pushed back a year to 2024, states the site.
Temporary berms will remain in place until permanent structures are completed.
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