Cypress Hills Interprovincial Park encompasses the town site of Elkwater and as such Alberta Environment and Parks has become the provider of Water and Wastewater Services for the residents. As the town grows so does the need to upgrade the underground facilities within the town. Many of the assets are well beyond their expected life span and are in need of refurbishment. This Project deals with an at risk Wastewater
Force Main from the Causeway Sewage Lift Station to the Wastewater Treatment Lagoons, and the detailed Engineering and Design for the refurbishment of the existing pipeline., including but not limited to:
• Assessment of existing Wastewater Force Main
• Advisement on potential options for upgrading, refurbishment, replacement, or a combination of those three.
• Advisement of and Engineering and Design for the protection of the pipeline from geotechnical and other hazards.
• Preparation of Tender Documentation for the Construction Phase
• Preparation of necessary drawings and materials specifications for the Construction Phase
• Provision for Construction Supervision and Consulting
• Final as built drawings
• Any regulatory compliance submission requirements.
All of the sewage produced in Cypress Hills Provincial Park is collected in the waste water collection system and is pumped to the sewage lagoons located on the north side of Elkwater Lake. The forcemain that carries all of this waste water was engineered and constructed in 1989
and consists of 3525 lineal meters of 250 mm diameter PVC CL150 and the shorter section under the lake is 275 meters of 250 mm diameter steel pipe (refer to the below drawing). In January 2018 a section of this force main ruptured and caused raw sewage to be discharged
into the ditch adjacent to the lake. Fortunately the outside temperature at that time was -30 degrees Celsius and the discharge was contained within the ditch as it quickly froze once exposed to the elements. The depth of the ground frost at that time was measured at 0.6 meters
and the depth of the damaged pipe was approximately 2.4 meters. It was apparent at the time of the repair that the fractured pipe was caused by movement in the soil as the pipe was under stress and the surrounding hillsides have a history of being unstable. Mud slides are common in
this area. In order to prevent similar incidents from occurring in the future, a commitment was made to Alberta Environment that Capital funding would be pursued in order to upgrade this force main along the susceptible section of line that is located at the bottom of the unstable side slope.
