Insulation is being used in an attempt to eliminate the frost heaves that plague westbound Highway 11 near Sylvan Lake (rdnewsNOW/Troy Gillard)

By Troy Gillard

Smoothing things over

Province confident latest work will eliminate Highway 11 frost heaves

Aug 19, 2020 | 3:41 PM

Another year has brought with it another attempt at fixing an annoying stretch of road between Red Deer and Sylvan Lake.

Work is currently underway as crews try to rectify the bumpy frost heaves that plague westbound Highway 11 near Cygnet Lake.

“This work involves excavating the existing pavement and granular base structure on the north side of the highway and reconstructing the road subgrade with new fill material and insulation,” explains Blair Phelps, a spokesperson with the provincial government. “The work is to prevent frost heaves caused by water filtering from Cygnet Lake under the north side of the highway.”

Phelps says the repairs currently underway consist of removing the upper 1-2 metres of clay and replacing it with granular material that is less susceptible to frost heaving.

“The insulation is being installed on top of the clay and below the granular material,” he says. “The purpose of the insulation is to prevent the freezing temperatures from penetrating the clay layer and reducing the chance of frost heaves occurring.”

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Phelps describes the work done last year as “minor in comparison” to the full reconstruction now underway.

“That work involved trenching the areas that were heaving the most and reconstructing those select areas. This prior work was intended only to improve highway smoothness and cost $660,000,” he explained.

Alberta Transportation contracted Aecon Transportation West to complete the frost heave repairs in addition to paving work on Highway 54, Highway 2, Highway 27, and Highway 590. As such, Phelps says an individual project cost for the Highway 11 work is not available.

Aecon has not worked on these heaves in the past, he adds.

Work on the Highway 11 repairs began on Monday, August 10 and will take approximately six weeks to complete, depending on weather.