Shoal Lake Aqueduct

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Internal Aqueduct Repairs

ACT was awarded the major crack repair program, instituted by the City of Winnipeg to repair the inside of the 85 year old unreinforced concrete Aqueduct. The aqueduct extends from the City of Winnipeg to Shoal Lake approximately 100 km away and is the sole source of water for the City of Winnipeg.

The crack repair method was designed to eliminate was seepage (both infiltration and exfiltration) from the aqueduct. A NSF approved polyurethane injection resin was chosen for use due to the nature of the project. All cracks were repaired from the inside of the aqueduct and the work included: drilling alternating injection holes along the cracks and joints, installation of nylon packers into the drilled holes, acid flushing the cracks and joints, injection of polyurethane resin into the cracks and joints, removal of the nylon packers, patching drill holes, and chlorine disinfection of the tunnel upon completion of the work.

As lighting and power was crucial to perform the work, an infrastructure of diesel generators and a lighting/power system was designed to light almost 1km of the Aqueduct at a time.

Overall, almost 13 Km (8 miles) of cracks and joints were injected with polyurethane resin and repaired.

Only 20 days were allowed during the shut down for the work to be completed because the aqueduct is the only supply of water for the City of Winnipeg. All materials had to be on site before the shut down commenced. ACT successfully completed all the work in 18 days during the 20 day shutdown utilizing a round the clock approach, working 24 hours a day 7 days per week throughout the 18 day duration.