City crews say work is well underway to restore a popular pathway that was severely impacted by heavy rains that made many portions unstable and unsafe.

The Bow River Pathway, near Douglasdale and McKenzie Lake, was closed down in late 2016 after ground water resulted in several portions of the bank sliding downhill.

Officials say they’ve been watching the situation on the pathway closely since 2005 and work to rectify the problem has been underway since it was closed down.

“Following heavy rainfall in 2016, this section of the pathway had extensive damage. Due to safety concerns, the pathway had to be closed and right now we are working on restoring the pathway and stabilizing the slope,” said Jason Lin, project manager with the City of Calgary’s infrastructure department.

The permanent solution that Lin’s team is working on involves a series of 30 metre long reinforcement cages dropped into holes about one metre apart and then filled with concrete.

It’s a huge undertaking that has one simple goal.

“The goal here is to restore the pathway and provide a safe pathway for public use and the local homeowners,” Lin says.

But before any work could be conducted on the site, Lin says there was also a lot of planning that went into the project, given that there are many different things that needed to be kept in mind.

“Slope stability is a highly complex phenomenon. Ground water is a factor as well as the steepness of the slope as well as the sub-surface conditions also surface water as well,” he says. “Every section along this pathway has different situations. We really look at the pathway on a case-by-case basis.”

Work on the project is expected to persist through 2018, with an estimated completion date sometime in 2019.

“We’ll be looking at mid-2019. There will be some areas that we will see if we will be able to complete them a bit earlier but we’ll assess that as we go,” Lin says.

He does want to extend his thanks to the residents in the area for their extended patience while work is ongoing.

“We have been dealing with the homeowners and we would like to thank them for their involvement and their patience throughout construction. There has been some activity here. There have been some closures of the pathway, we’ve had to detour them onto the sidewalk, so we really appreciate their patience.”

For more information on the project, you can visit the City of Calgary’s website.

(With files from Kevin Fleming)