March 24, 2025
The Goose Creek Fishway replacement is an interesting project that shows the versatility of AIL’s Super•Cor Buried Metal Bridge System to be transported first by road and then by train to be constructed in a remote Northern area.
Manitoba Hydro needed to replace an older structure that had been severely damaged by ice pressure coming off James Bay near Churchill. The project team selected a more robust AIL Super-Cor High Profile Arch with extra thick MSE Precast Panel Walls.
To resist the ice-force on the downstream side facing Hudson Bay, that headwall was backed by a thick, cast-in-place concrete wall which was reinforced with flat sheets of Bolt-A-Plate. And, to avoid corrosion from salt water, plastic geogrid was used for the MSE soil reinforcement on both headwalls.
Components traveled first by road and then by rail
There are no roads past Thompson, so the structure components needed to finish their journey by rail to get to the site. Our logistics team worked closely with the freight carrier and the rail yard to ensure our shipment made it in time before the weekly cut off for the train departure.
We maintained constant communication with the owner, consultant and contractor to be certain that construction would align with the fish window period. The client noted that it was a successful project completed in a remote area on time —not always an easy task.
