March 11, 2011
Province Inspects, Reinforces Over 70 Kilometres of Assiniboine River Dikes
Manitoba Infrastructure and Transportation advises that work will begin this week reinforcing and raising earthen dikes along approximately 70 km of the Assiniboine River from Portage la Prairie to just west of Headingley.
The upgrading of the permanent dikes is being done to protect people and property from potential floods that may reach levels similar to those of the 1976 Assiniboine River flood.
Many of the dikes are on private land so the province is asking for the co-operation of landowners and local governments to permit provincial workers onto the land. The rural municipalities of Portage la Prairie, Cartier and St. Francois Xavier have established municipal emergency prevention orders that will allow work to begin on private land.
A small number of locations along the dikes have eroded from river current and will be strengthened with rock. There are also trees along the dikes which will have to be removed in order for the reinforcement work to progress. The province will ensure that any large trees removed from the dikes are salvaged for further use.
The dikes protect farmland, farms and residences as well as the communities of Elie, La Salle, Sanford and Starbuck. They were first constructed by the federal government in 1912, reinforced in 1950 and again improved in the years following the 1997 flood. The province took over responsibility for the dikes from the federal government in 1996.
The province is also working with rural municipalities to assess Assiniboine River dikes east of the primary work area, towards Winnipeg. The province also recently announced close to $800,000 to help the city of Brandon raise the Assiniboine River dike and has stationed a sandbag-making machine in Brandon to serve the Westman area of the province. Other steps taken to reduce the potential flood impact of the Assiniboine River include the ongoing lowering of the Shellmouth Reservoir and maintenance work on the Portage Diversion.
Ice-cutting is scheduled to begin early next week on the Icelandic and Fisher Rivers. Ice thickness surveys have been completed in the areas.
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