{"id":473538,"date":"2026-02-14T01:59:16","date_gmt":"2026-02-14T01:59:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/473538\/"},"modified":"2026-02-14T01:59:16","modified_gmt":"2026-02-14T01:59:16","slug":"road-closure-in-effect-after-wire-snaps-detected-on-calgarys-bearspaw-feeder-main-calgary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/473538\/","title":{"rendered":"Road closure in effect after wire snaps detected on Calgary\u2019s Bearspaw feeder main – Calgary"},"content":{"rendered":"

The City of Calgary has closed an exit ramp off the TransCanada Highway in the city\u2019s northwest after wire snaps were detected along the ailing Bearspaw feeder main.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

In an update to residents Friday morning, the city announced the exit ramp from the westbound 16 Avenue N.W. exit to Sarcee Trail is closed, and that traffic would be detoured to 29 Avenue N.W.<\/p>\n

The city said the detour would be in place \u201cuntil further notice\u201d and is meant to \u201csupport public safety.\u201d<\/p>\n

City crews are focused on two segments of the feeder main that have an \u201cenhanced level of deterioration,\u201d and are taking precautionary measures after each segment experienced wire snaps detected by the city\u2019s fibre optic monitoring.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs we continue to operate the pipe in its current condition and scenario plan, our risk mitigation strategies will continue to evolve,\u201d the city said in its update.<\/p>\n

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According to the city, crews are closely monitoring the pipe, but no changes are being made to the operating pressure of the feeder main at this time as \u201cchanges to pressure come with additional risk.\u201d<\/p>\n

Calgary Mayor Jeromy Farkas said the road closure and detour are out of \u201can abundance of caution,\u201d ahead of line repairs scheduled for the spring and fall.<\/p>\n

The pipe will need to be shut down, and water restrictions will be implemented to undertake those repairs, city officials have said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is likely that this specific location will be top of mind for us as we get into the spring and fall for those proactive measures,\u201d he told reporters.<\/p>\n

The segments in question appear near the site where the feeder main that carries 60 per cent of the city\u2019s drinking water ruptured on Dec. 30 2025<\/a>, its second critical failure in less than two years.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tThe Bearspaw feeder main, which carries 60 per cent of Calgary\u2019s drinking water, has suffered two \u2018catastrophic\u2019 breaks in less than two years.\t\t\t\t <\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tGlobal News\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

Following that break, which forced citywide water restrictions for nearly three weeks, city officials warned there is no guarantee the pipe won\u2019t rupture again.<\/a><\/p>\n

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\u201cWe can do everything we can in the short term to band-aid it, to nurse it back to health,\u201d Farkas said Friday. \u201cBut in the long term, this pipe could fail at any time. So we want to be crystal clear and transparent with Calgarians about that.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Farkas said the closures allow for contingencies in case the pipe fails again.<\/p>\n

Much of the Bearspaw feeder main is made of pre-stressed concrete cylinder pipe, installed in 1975. The layers of concrete are encased in a steel cylinder and wrapped with high-tension steel wires and coated in mortar.<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tMore on Calgary
\n\t\t\tMore videos\n\t\t<\/p>\n

A \u201cwire snap\u201d is when those steel coils wrapped tightly around the pipe break due to stress or corrosion.<\/p>\n

According to the city, monitoring has heard a total of three wire snaps along the line since the feeder main was repressurized and returned to service last month.<\/p>\n

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Following the feeder main\u2019s original break in June 2024, city crews reinforced and replaced dozens of pipe segments deemed to be at risk of failure.<\/a><\/p>\n

Kerry Black, a civil engineering professor at the University of Calgary, said it\u2019s not surprising the pipe has experienced further wire snaps but noted it doesn\u2019t necessarily mean a failure is imminent.<\/p>\n

\u201cIs it concerning? Potentially,\u201d Black told Global News. \u201cWhat we\u2019re seeing though in the response from the city is that we\u2019ve got a massive project underway and moving forward, so they\u2019re taking every possible precaution to make sure that the city\u2019s water supply continues to remain safe and sustainable, but that they\u2019re not necessarily putting at risk the other project that they\u2019re working on.\u201d<\/p>\n

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In response to the pipe\u2019s failure late last year, the City of Calgary announced it is fast-tracking a project to replace the aging pipe, which will see a steel pipe installed parallel to the existing line.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tA map of the Bearspaw feeder main replacement project.\t\t\t\t <\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tGlobal News\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

Both phases of the project will take place concurrently, the mayor said, with crews set to use micro tunnelling to install the new pipe between the Shaganappi Pump Station and 73 Street N.W. An open-cut method will be used for the rest of the line, which includes excavating a trench along 34 Avenue N.W.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re doing this right the first time so that this is the last year that Montgomery and Bowness are subjected to this,\u201d Farkas said. \u201cWe\u2019re fixing this once and for all.\u201d<\/p>\n

City officials have maintained the replacement pipe will be completed by December<\/a>, while original timelines had a completion date in 2028.<\/p>\n

\n\t\t&copy 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The City of Calgary has closed an exit ramp off the TransCanada Highway in the city\u2019s northwest after…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":473539,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[165678,177137,162170,24156,43,44,41,39,42,40,1890],"class_list":{"0":"post-473538","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-bearspaw-feeder-main","9":"tag-calgary-city-hall","10":"tag-calgary-water-main-break","11":"tag-city-of-calgary","12":"tag-headlines","13":"tag-news","14":"tag-top-news","15":"tag-top-stories","16":"tag-topnews","17":"tag-topstories","18":"tag-traffic"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/473538","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=473538"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/473538\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/473539"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=473538"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=473538"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=473538"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}