Red Deer County will explore detour operations after getting word from Alberta Transportation that the flood-damaged Garrington Bridge will be closed for two months.
“We’ll be working out the best detour routes and how to manage and maintain those for the summer,” said Marty Campbell, county operations manager on Tuesday.
“We’ll be working together with (Alberta Transportation) on this, trying to have minimal impact on our local roads.”
The bridge is located about 36 km west of Bowden and crosses the river to link with Sundre to the southwest.
Overall, there was much less damage in the county than in 2005, he said. Much of the damage is in the Garrington Bridge area near Secondary Hwy 587, which runs west from Bowden to the Red Deer River and beyond.
Those areas are affected almost every year when waters run high during spring runoff, he said.
“In the southwest part of the county, we had 10 to 12 sections of road washed out partially.
“For the most part, (repairs involve) bringing in gravel, pit run and grader time and we’ll rebuild most of it.
“It’s of much smaller magnitude and we’re actually in repair mode already. We’re just waiting for some of the waters to recede before we can repair all of (the roads).”
There have been no reports of homes under water, although a property owner who lives just east of the Dickson Dam found the road into his home blocked by rising waters when the sluice gates were opened on the weekend.
County staff are also lending their skills outside the municipality.
Assistant county manager Ric Henderson and 11 other staff left for Canmore on Tuesday to help shore up buildings in the flood-ravaged community. Nine technical rescue personnel and two firefighters will join Henderson in Canmore until Thursday night.
The Canmore fire department has requested Red Deer County to assist with structural collapse and stabilize properties.
For more information about Red Deer County activities, check www.rdcounty.ca.
pcowley@www.reddeeradvocate.com