The rising levels of the North Saskatchewan River, in addition to heavy rains, have caused delays in construction of the northeast leg of Anthony Henday Drive, while other sections of the road have sustained minor damages.
In northeast Edmonton on Sunday, river levels breached the burms constructed to allow crews to build the bridge across the North Saskatchewan River – forcing crews to pump out the water, putting the project about two weeks behind schedule.
Meanwhile, on a stretch of the roadway in southwest Edmonton, officials are surveying the damage after foam seals in parts of the road began popping out, due to the heavy rainfall.
The strips of foam and road sealing compound were placed in between the concrete slabs to protect the joins, but much of it popped out in the space of about 24 hours.
According to Alberta Transportation, the dislodged seals won’t harm vehicles, but need to be replaced over the summer.
“That’s done at night while there are low traffic volumes,” Melinda Steenbergen with Alberta Transportation said. “We come through with a crew, we close off one lane for about one kilometer and we do overnight work to refill those seals.”
Officials said by doing the work at night, the repairs won’t disrupt traffic too much.
In addition, the seals that will be used to replace the old ones should go in much deeper, meaning repairs won’t have to be done as often.
With files from David Ewasuk
