At the Monday, February 20, 2024, Regular Council Meeting, Drumheller Town Council awarded a tender to Ruby Rock Asphalt Works Ltd. in the amount of $1,231,154.97 for the 2023 & 2024 New Trail Development, Roadway Rehabilitation, Sidewalk Rehabilitation and Other Work projects.
In 2023, money from the Capital Budget was spent on the engineering and design work for the projects, which were originally scheduled for last year.
A request for tender (RFT) was posted in 2023 on the Town’s bids&tenders and the Alberta Purchasing Connection websites, but no bids were received. Administration then postponed the 2023 work and proceeded with engineering and design works for 2024 projects.
A new RFT was posted on the websites and concluded on Wednesday, February 7, 2024, with a total of five bids received. The highest bid came from Aecon Transportation West Ltd. at $1.65 million, over $420,000 more than the lowest and awarded bid from Ruby Rock.
A portion of the road work will be taking place in Rosedale from the end of Centre Street to the highway. The highway intersection will not be a part of the rehabilitation project but will continue after the intersection to Roper Road, then 1st Avenue from Roper Road moving west to Highway 56. Out in Wayne, 1st Avenue from Highway 10X to the end and then from 1st Street to 1st Avenue will be done.
In Drumheller, the alleyway between 2nd Street E and 3rd Street E behind Maple Ridge Manor will see regrading and new gravel. The alleyway between 6th Avenue E and Riverside Drive behind Sunshine Lodge and the alleyway behind 1st Street W and Centre Street by the new Plaza and then Premier Close will all have maintenance done.
There will also be small sidewalk and road repairs done throughout the Valley. The bid also includes surfacing of the Rails to Trails path from the intersection of Highway 9 and South Railway Avenue to 2nd Street West.
“I’m just wondering if there’s any rehabilitation for the crumbling sidewalks?” councillor Tom Zariski asked Capital Project Manager Kelcie Wilson who presented the development and rehabilitation project to council. The previous contractor, Brooks Asphalt, is still responsible for the sidewalks Zariski questioned.
“At this time we are still in conversation with Brooks Asphalt because they are still under warranty, so right now we’re not touching any of those that are classified as defective,” responded Wilson.

A great way to learn more about paleontology and the great research that is taking place at the Royal Tyrrell Museum and beyond, is the Speakers Series.
The annual series, where leaders in the fields of paleontology and related sciences present talks on their subject, kicked off again on February 8.
The series is typically in the off-season of the most busy time for the museum, and is a great chance for residents to get a first-hand look at work done at the museum.
“It is a great free opportunity for community members to connect with Tyrrell Museum research scientists directly. You can’t get much more direct than actually sitting in an auditorium and listening to them in a presentation and then having the opportunity to interact directly,” said Dr. Craig Scott, director of preservation and research at the Royal Tyrrell Museum.
He notes it goes beyond the work within the walls of the Tyrrell.
“It is beyond Royal Tyrrell Museum research, it’s all of these people we bring in to do these talks. In addition to the local research crowd, you can interrogate people from all over the world that we get in here to do these talks,” he said. “A lot of what we try to do is bring people on who are doing contemporary work that is really interesting. We try very hard to get a variety of subjects. Some years, we have a very intense paleontology focus and other years, we get talks that venture out into the broader sciences.”
While the Tyrrell is one of the main tourist attractions in the province, celebrating the field with great displays, the Speaker Series is a good opportunity to explore science.
“It gives you the sort of behind-the-curtains scene in terms of the kind of work that goes into developing hypotheses and testing them, and the resulting research that actually gets incorporated over time into our exhibit,” he said.
The Speaker Series has endured for about 19 years and continues this season. Talks are on Thursdays at 11 a.m. and run until May 2.