Downtown Stormwater Drainage
Design-Build

Project Overview

The Downtown Intensification Project (DTI) was undertaken to upgrade Edmonton’s downtown storm sewer infrastructure. This project involved the installation of 300 m of 1,600 mm ID FRP pipe via microtunneling under the twin LRT line within 6 mm of settlement. The launch shaft was at 100 Avenue and the retrieval shaft north of Jasper Avenue. The tunnel alignment was expected to be in clay till with embedded empress sand formation.  Due to its difficulties, This project was recognized with an Award of Excellence in Project Management in 2020 from the Consulting Engineers of Alberta.

Challenges and solutions:

1. Particularly challenging due to unforeseen ground conditions encountered during tunneling (including cobbles, large boulders, and metal scraps) and caused damage to the cutter teeth of MTBM
2. An odor was detected during the excavation of the rescue shaft
3. The worksite was located at the heart of downtown (space limitation, minimize traffic impacts）