Cockburn and Calrossie Sewer Relief Works

Over several years, KGS Group has successfully worked with the City of Winnipeg to study, design and implement district-wide drainage improvements in neighbourhoods prone to annual flooding. The Cockburn and Calrossie Sewer Relief Project is a complex, large-scale undertaking in a densely urbanized center that includes major businesses, residential homes, regional streets, and the primary rail line that bisects the City. KGS led a large team to take the project from initial concepts to practical implementation.

We developed a regional hydraulic/hydrologic model of three adjacent drainage areas and created an evaluation criterion to objectively select the drainage improvement option that considered stakeholder needs, constructability issues, future City projects and cost. Due to the potential public impact of this project, public engagement was paramount. A public engagement strategy was developed and open houses were organized to gather public input. Once the preferred option was selected, KGS oversaw the construction of the drainage improvements. Tunneling and trenchless technologies were used to limit disruption within this dense urban community.

The Cockburn and Calrossie project introduced several new design and construction technologies and innovations to the City of Winnipeg including:

• first large diameter micro-tunnelling project in Manitoba (2,700 mm dia. tunnel)
• geotechnical baseline reports – first time application in Manitoba
• risk sharing construction contract strategies to reduce capital costs
• settlement analysis, design and construction monitoring for large diameter tunnels in clays
• redevelopment of an historic rail yard into a storm retention basin and new public park space