The Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo identified the need for additional residential development within the Hamlet of Fort Chipewyan to accommodate future growth in the community. Associated Engineering assisted the Municipality with the review of alternative servicing options and costs for the proposed development.
The Hamlet of Fort Chipewyan presented a number of unique geographic and geologic challenges for the design and construction of municipal services. These challenges included:
- The remote location that limits the local availability of construction contractors, equipment and materials.
- Limited access to the area requiring seasonal mobilization of equipment via the winter road from Fort McMurray, barge transport or air cargo.
- Ground conditions consisting of very shallow hard bedrock that requires blasting for installation of underground utilities.
As a result, development within the Hamlet requires unique engineering consideration, such as: water and sewer mains typically built within the frost zone, a looped water system to enable ongoing circulation, ongoing low flow into the sewer system, above ground utilities, and surface drainage. Our engineering analysis considered these local needs which impact design criteria, construction methods, costs and materials.
To prepare Concept Plans for Residential Little Lake Expansion, the Associated Engineering completed the following tasks:
- Review of existing infrastructure systems to determine available capacity
- Preparation of design criteria
- Development of a number of servicing options considering development scenarios and different levels of service
- Capital and operating costs comparisons.