Brooks Aqueduct Restoration Program
Structural restoration preserving a century-old aqueduct and significant Alberta landmark.
Client: Government of Alberta
Location: Brooks, AB
Project Type: Buildings, Special Structures
About This Project
Built between 1912 and 1914, the Brooks Aqueduct is a 3.1-kilometre reinforced concrete structure originally constructed by the Canadian Pacific Railway to carry irrigation water across a valley in southeastern Alberta. Supported by more than 1,000 concrete columns reaching up to 20 metres high, the aqueduct is recognized as both a National Historic Site of Canada and a Provincial Historic Resource.
By the mid-2010s, the century-old structure had exceeded its original design life, with deterioration of the concrete flume and supporting bents creating public safety concerns and threatening an important piece of Alberta’s engineering heritage. ISL has served as the Government of Alberta’s structural consultant on the aqueduct since 2015, progressing from an initial condition assessment into a multi-year restoration program.
As Consulting Engineer of Record, ISL developed a structural model and repair drawings covering the entire 3.1-kilometre structure. Repairs addressed cracking and spalling of concrete columns and crossbeams, with ISL also providing tender support, contract administration, shop drawing review, and staged field reviews throughout construction.
Preserving the structure required careful consideration of the surrounding environment. Portions of the aqueduct are located within a designated wetland that provides habitat for nesting migratory birds. Following an environment assessment, ISL developed mitigation strategies and secured required environmental approvals for each construction season. Above-grade concrete repairs were scheduled during winter, allowing frozen ground to support scaffolding while minimizing disturbance to sensitive wetland soils and wildlife habitat.
Challenge: The construction work within the wetlands requires a different approach and special procedures to avoid any impact to the ecosystem.
Solution: In 2018, an environmental assessment of the wetlands was performed, and the mitigation strategies were developed to perform structural repairs within this area.
Challenge: The repairs program is ongoing as annual funding becomes available.
Solution: The heritage structure required innovative thinking, modern technology and creative problem solving to be restored. Repairs were completed in a priority order.
Challenge: The current condition of this aqueduct poses a significant safety issue, and its continued deterioration will cause the loss of significant piece of Alberta history.
Solution: 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. These records and ISL’s involvement over multiple years allowed for continuity of repairs and an understanding of the structure’s deficiencies and requirements
Key Features:
- 1 km historic reinforced concrete aqueduct
- More than 1,000 concrete support columns
- National and Provincial Historic Resource
- Multi-year structural restoration program
- Wetland and migratory bird habitat protection
- Winter construction to minimize environmental impacts
Integrated Expertise
- Structural Engineering
- Environmental Management
- Supporting Services