The Village of Rockyford will be soon complete one of the largest projects to upgrade its sewer infrastructure. Earlier this year, the Village began construction on a new sewage lagoon cell and will line the existing cells to prevent seepage. The project is expected to finish on time and under budget.

    The Village of Rockyford is almost finished one of the largest sewage projects in the past two years.
    Soon, the Village’s sewage lagoon upgrades will be completed, a project that has been in the making for over two years.
    “It’s on schedule and looking like it’ll come in under budget. We originally budgeted $2.2 million for it, but it’ll probably just under that. It’s great news,” said Rockyford Mayor Darcy Burke.
    Construction began earlier this year after finalizing the plans for the new lagoon cell last summer. Changes to the original plan resulted in some savings for the Village.
    “We did a slight design change to it. In the end, it required less excavation, which is where the cost savings came in. It will actually make the reservoir operate more efficiently and make it more user friendly,” said Burke. “We’re installing a liner in the new lagoon and when it’s done, we’ll drain the old one and we’ll be putting in a plastic liner on that as well. It’ll help stop any seepage.”
    The project was conceived after new standards for sewage lagoons were implemented by Alberta Environment and Sustainable Resource Development. Though, Burke indicated there was nothing wrong with the lagoon as it was, it no longer met provincial standards, which said a lagoon had to be able to store up to 12 months of material.
    Upon completion, the Village of Rockyford will have some breathing room when it comes to upgrading their sewage infrastructure.
    “Once it’s complete, from then on and we’d just need to worry about the day-to-day operation and maintenance costs. This will put our sewage system right up to par,”    said  Burke.
    The upgrades to the sewage lagoon is one of the largest projects in recent years. Two years ago, the Village was able to replace several blocks worth of aging sewer pipes, a problem which is facing many communities in the area.
    “When it comes to the underground infrastructure, we did a comprehensive study about five years ago. We set in place phases we’d move forward with for capital investment,” said Burke. “In 2011, when we went to tender, hoping to do one block of water and sewer lines, the bids that came in were such that we were able to do three blocks of needed infrastructure. It really gave us a jump on that part of our infrastructure costs.”
    The project is expected to be complete by the end of the summer and no immediate plans are being made to further upgrade Rockyford’s sewage infrastructure.

The ice plant at the Drumheller Memorial Arena is back up and running  after crews were able to replace a chiller unit. Despite this, the Dragons Hockey School has been postponed until August 11-15.

    The Drumheller Memorial Arena is back up and running and making ice, it just was a little too late for the Drumheller Dragons Hockey School.
    The annual summer youth day camp to brush up on hockey skills and have fun has been postponed because of lack of ice. Originally the camp was set to begin last Monday, however a breakdown of the ice plant at the arena has forced organizers to set the camp dates to August 11-15. So far they have also had to cancel the shooting and checking clinics.
    Director of Infrastructure Services Al Kendrick told The Mail one of the chillers on the ice plant broke down and needed to be replaced. It could have been a catastrophic breakdown, but contractors and town workers were able to expedite the needed part and get them installed.
    “We were very fortunate to find one and secure it because if we had to order one… we wouldn’t have been making ice until probably December,” said Kendrick.
    By the end of the weekend, the plant was up and running again.
    “We managed to get it running. We had a few problems part way through but we are now making ice,” said Kendrick.
    He says the cost of the repair has yet to be fully determined.
    Kendrick explains they have had two major repairs over the last two seasons that were not scheduled maintenance. Last season one of the compressors went down.
    “We were hoping to get another five or so years out of those units, but when you hit that 10-plus year window things can start to go,” said Kendrick.
    There is still space available for the Dragons hockey School. For more information call  the Dragons office at 403-823-2022.