BROOKS AQUEDUCT
Since its decommissioning, the concrete structure has experienced significant deterioration.
Client: Alberta Culture, Multiculturalism and Status of Women
Location: Brooks, Alberta
Project Type: Buildings
About This Project
The Brooks Aqueduct is located in a shallow valley, five kilometres southeast of Brooks, Alberta. The Brooks Aqueduct is an impressive reinforced concrete structure over 3.1 kilometres in length featuring a large catenaryshaped flume mounted on 20-metre high columns. The site also includes an inverted siphon that carried water under the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) main line. Built by the CPR between 1912 and 1914 and originally used to bring irrigation waters to semi-arid soils, the Brooks Aqueduct played a prominent role in the CPR’s efforts to settle Western Canada.
Since its decommissioning, the concrete structure has experienced significant deterioration. Over the last decade efforts have been made in order to assess the condition of the structure and ensure its stability and integrity through minimal interventions
ISL was retained by Alberta Culture, Multiculturalism and Status of Women to evaluate the repairs to the damaged elements located within the wetlands under Brooks Aqueduct. Column and crossbeams located within the aqueduct’s wetlands showed signs of cracking and spalling and needed to be intervened.
In 2018, an environmental assessment of the wetlands was performed, and the mitigation strategies were developed to perform structural repairs within this area.
The heritage structure required innovative thinking, modern technology and creative problem solving to be restored.
ISL along with Alberta Heritage and Culture performed expensive photo documentation and produce a structural model and associated drawings of the full 3.1km structure including repair details. The University of Calgary is also involved with ongoing research on deterioration modeling and building information modeling to track the repair interventions and deterioration.
Integrated Expertise
- Structural Engineering
- Environmental Management
- Supporting Services