Despite the failure of three roads in Deer Ridge over the summer, the city's roads, as well as its water, storm and sewer infrastructure are all in relatively good condition, according to St. Albert's infrastructure manager.
Mark Hussey gave the standing committee on finance his annual report on the state of the city's infrastructure at its Monday meeting. The report encompasses a review of what the city is responsible for and its current condition.
At present, the city is responsible for 756 kilometres of roads, calculated by multiplying the length of a road by its number of driving and turning lanes. At present, Hussey said the bulk of St. Albert's are in good shape.
"Our roads are more sophisticated now," Hussey said. "We've really made leaps and bounds in looking after our roads."
Coun. Len Bracko wanted to know why three roads in Deer Ridge — Dalhousie Street, Deerborne Drive and Dufferin Street — all failed over the summer. The failures were discovered during overlay work to restore the roads. Workers discovered that substantial rainfall, a high water table in the Deer Ridge area and excessive sedimentation had ruined all three roads. Crews were forced to completely rebuild Deerborne, Dalhousie and Dufferin.
Hussey said the city has since started using a new tool to help better test the structural integrity of its roads, a large trailer carrying a huge weight that literally pounds a road's pavement and collects data as a result.
"Overall we're doing well," Hussey said. "Our locals are sagging behind a bit."
Planning and engineering general manager Guy Boston pointed out a possible trend in decreased road costs over the next two years due to the substantial investment the city has made in repairs over the last several years. Funding for overlaying local and collector roads has risen significantly since 2005, when the city first completed a pair of studies meant to gauge the health of its infrastructure. Boston projected that total, which rose from $129,000 to $2.17 million between 2005 and 2011, will begin to subside over the next two years.
"This is like watching a glacier," Boston said. "We're pretty proud of how St. Albert has been managing this glacial move."
The department is also contemplating upgrading certain intersections, such as McKenney Avenue and St. Albert Trail. The asphalt used at the intersection is suffering from large trucks with hot tires stopping there, causing deep ruts. Boston said his department wants to study the use of concrete instead of asphalt, which Edmonton has done at the intersection of 127 Street and Yellowhead Trail.
"There's a larger upfront cost. It takes longer to put down, but it lasts forever," Boston said.
Pipes
The most significant progress for the city has been its inspection of storm and wastewater pipes, which it now does with video cameras. By the end of this year, engineering services director Todd Wyman said the city will have inspected all of its wastewater pipes.
"None of the other municipalities have done this," said Wyman. "It's amazing."
Water pipes are more difficult to inspect and repair given their smaller size, but the city is still doing well, according to the report. The last year saw five water main breaks, one of which was caused by a contractor.
In 2012, the engineering department will be examining the city's buildings and trying to devise a way to evaluate them according to specific criteria. Wyman said that won't be easy, given that St. Albert Place is very different structurally from the public works building, for example, but the buildings still need to be assessed.
"We want some kind of sophistication to go with the program at the end of the day."
