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Discovery Ridge Bank Stabilization

After a devastating flood in 2013 the area of Discovery Ridge alongside the Elbow River took quiet the hit, a few banks being severely washed out as well as many trees and shrubs damaged or taken away by the high waters. When the city contacted us to get the banks stabilized and prepared we began to brainstorm ideas with engineers and found a very interesting and natural way of stabilization that looked extremely interesting on the side of the river.

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The elaborate ideas of engineer Andres Gomez constructed a plan consisting of a natural retaining wall to reduce the erosion alongside the river bank. The stabilizing wall consisted of timber cribs which were back filled with a special loam/gravel mix. Next with a machine, holes were poked both vertically and horizontally in the cribs and live planting materials were placed in these holes to strengthen the structure. Through this process we also made holes in the lower portion of the bank for fish to spawn, other measures were taken in consideration of fish spawning. Large boulders were placed in the water and attached to stabilized drift wood that acted as a slow moving water pool. This was another man-made habitat where the fish can spawn.

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