An unusual mild spell of weather is helping to stretch out Red Deer’s construction season — a definite boon for at least one important project.
Work on the 2019 Canada Games Celebration Plaza in the downtown is progressing well after a small scheduling setback caused by an early September freeze, said Lyn Radford, chair of the games committee.
“The weather is sure helping us now,” said Radford, who expects the plaza to be 90 to 95 per cent completed by the end of this week. The official opening is still being planned for Feb. 13, just before the games kick off Feb. 15.
Daytime highs soared to 8 C Monday and 7 C on Wednesday and Thursday. While the mercury is expected to drop to freezing this weekend, it will be above zero again early next week, with highs of 3 and 4 C predicted for Monday and Tuesday.
This week, workers from Standard West Steel were soldering steel frames that will hold the name of the plaza and sponsor plaques. Radford said these “walls” will be erected imminently.
A decorative medallion was also being installed on Thursday into the pavement at the bottom of the steps of the former Central Intermediate School.
And Radford said the elaborate playground moved to the south side of the building and expanded is nearing completion.
Warmer weather has certainly assisted workers, said Radford. If a deep freeze had descended, the plaza would still have to have gotten done, but it would have been a more complicated, expensive process, involving tarps and warming equipment, as cold is not good for concrete setting.
“It’s good that it’s like this now… We’ll wait two more weeks — but then there had better be a big dump of snow” that lasts until the games end in early March, she added, with a laugh.
Although the $80-million Gaetz Avenue-Highway 2 interchange finally opened earlier this week after two years of major concrete work, smaller construction projects in the city are still ongoing, thanks to unseasonable mildness.
Pat David, of King Kong-Krete of Medicine Hat, was surprised to be hired this week to finish curbs in the parking lot of the Laredo Grande condo project, off 30th Avenue. David had assumed Central Alberta would be a lot cooler this time of year.
But he was pleasantly surprised to arrive in Red Deer and work in above-zero temperatures.
“I think we’ll stick around next week too, and see what we can get done,” David added.
If thermometers hover around zero, or just below, it’s possible to put insulation tarps over the concrete to ensure it dries properly.
“Concrete will create some of its own warmth while it’s setting,” he noted.
lmichelin@reddeeradvocate.com
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