Downtown Edmonton Ductbank Installation
Twelve-way ductbank energised on the original schedule, with no lane closure extensions.
What the job required.
1,240 m of multi-way concrete-encased ductbank, eight precast manholes, full asphalt and sidewalk restoration through a live downtown block.
The challenge.
Executing a multi-way ductbank installation within a highly congested downtown corridor introduces severe constraints on footprint and staging. The alignment intersected multiple unmapped legacy utilities buried beneath the active roadway, requiring continuous spatial coordination.
Permitted lane-closure windows were strictly limited by the city to minimize disruption to transit and pedestrian access. With no available laydown area for staging material, every phase of excavation and encasement had to be sequenced precisely against tight delivery schedules.
Our approach.
Prior to the first cut, ASI crews deployed hydrovac units to daylight every documented and suspected utility crossing, verifying exact depth and offset. Spacer racking and rebar cages were pre-assembled and checked against the engineered drawing before each concrete pour commenced.
To hold the narrow lane-closure windows, formwork and concrete encasement were executed during scheduled night shifts. Surface restoration was self-performed by ASI civil crews in the same construction sequence, eliminating the schedule risk of waiting on a follow-on paving trade.
The result.
The twelve-way ductbank was energised strictly on the original schedule, without requiring any extensions to the approved lane closures. Every duct was mandrel-proofed and rope-installed, yielding an unobstructed pathway for the carrier.
Detailed as-builts were delivered recording the actual invert and duct assignment across the entire run. The carrier pulled the high-capacity cable on their first attempt, and the complete municipal restoration was accepted by the city without deficiency.
