The provincial authorities has tenders out for 2 important infrastructure projects in Westman proper now — one to proceed the $40-million improve of the Rivers Dam at Lake Wahtopanah and one other to change a bridge crossing the Souris River on Highway 3 close to Melita.
Major work on the Rivers Dam will come one yr after the province undertook the primary stage of the rehabilitation mission.
In 2020, the dam held up after a large rainstorm led to 12,000 cubic toes of water per second flowed by way of the 64-year-old construction.
An aerial view of the spillway on the Rivers Reservoir and dam final yr. After finishing the primary section of rehabilitation work in response to the 2020 flood final yr, the province has now tendered the subsequent section of extra intensive work. (File)
That quantity was far above the beforehand recorded excessive of 4,500 cubic toes per second, main to the province fearing for months that it will give method and ship flows speeding downstream on the Little Saskatchewan River, which might then enter the Assiniboine River because it heads towards Brandon.
Last July, former infrastructure minister Doyle Piwiniuk introduced the primary section of labor to carry the dam up to fashionable requirements had began at a price of round $5.5 million, with an extra $34 million in work on the dam’s concrete spillway and embankment to are available spring 2024.
On June 28, Manitoba Transportation and Infrastructure issued a tender for that work.
It will embrace, amongst different gadgets:
• Installing new foundations upstream from the spillway.
• Raising the peak of the embankments, wingwalls and spillway partitions.
• Constructing new concrete partitions and slabs.
• Installing new sealant alongside joints.
• Removing some present components.
The province’s tender states that each one work relating to elevating the peak of the dam have to be full by Sept. 15, 2025, with all remaining work completed by March 5, 2027. Replacing vegetation on the dam web site and restoring the world have to be completed by July 15, 2027.
Contractors won’t be allowed to work within the water between April 1 and June 30 and the dam’s spillway should not be obstructed by work between March 5 and Oct. 15 annually.
Last yr, the province additionally introduced in a media launch that it was going to fully change a bridge on Highway 3 close to Melita and add flood safety to a bridge on Highway 2 close to Wawanesa, each crossing the Souris River.
The former was anticipated to value $19.5 million and the latter $1.7 million.
While the Wawanesa bridge doesn’t seem to have been tendered but, the Melita bridge tender went out June 26.
The present bridge was in-built 1970. Piwniuk mentioned in a launch final yr that it had outlived its helpful lifespan after important flood occasions and the brand new bridge can be extra resilient to future flooding.
The new bridge can be three spans lengthy as soon as constructed, made out of metal and concrete. All work going down within the river stream have to be full by March 15, 2025, all structural works by Sept. 30, 2025 and ultimate restoration of the location by Nov. 30, 2025.
Demolition of the prevailing bridge should occur both earlier than May 1 or after Aug. 31 to keep away from disturbing nesting barn swallows.
The successful contractor should guarantee sufficient drainage to keep away from creating swimming pools of water, which may lure the provincially endangered Great Plains toad to the mission space.
During development, a short lived shoo-fly bridge can be put in to hold visitors flowing.
Infrastructure Minister Lisa Naylor’s workplace didn’t reply to a request for a progress replace on these projects, in addition to the development of a brand new dam close to Wawanesa on the Souris River {that a} design was commissioned for final yr.
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