Discussions

Has anyone heard when they are going to remove the dike plug at Grand Valley Rd? Flood risk has been over for weeks.

As I understand the situation, the risk this year is a little different. The concern is not as much about the more predictable peak of a spring flood but the chance of a flash flood due to the potential failure of the River's Dam. If it failed the flood surge would arrive faster than the plug can be installed.

If the dike can't be removed soon at least the gravel roads should be maintained,,,they are horrible.

I though the Rivers dam got the all clear from engineers 3 or 4 weeks ago?

I can’t find anything after july 13th. The dam was stated to have no damage done and all evacuated residents from the area were able to return home. Dam will continue to be monitored until water goes down.  
 
Unsure how much more the water needs to go down, or if monitoring 24/7 is still happening.

There are real time water level guages above and below the dam that can be read online anytime.  
Below the dam: https://wateroffice.ec.gc.ca/report/real_time_e.html?stn=05MF018  
 
Above the dam. https://wateroffice.ec.gc.ca/report/real_time_e.html?stn=05MF020  
 
It would be nice if Minnedosa had the same. Guess it's time to write a Minister of Bureaucracy.

I can only imagine the comments that would be made if the plug were removed and then the unthinkable happened and there was flooding and possible greater consequences. I'd rather see them err on the side of caution.

Yes remove it.  
 
Many springs I’ve seen waters this high coming over rivers damn. The threat to it breaking is gone the government deemed it safe. The alternative routes are terrible. They should be grated daily from the increase in traffic.

The plug was added as a response to overland flooding in the water basin area. Rivers Dam was just an added concern. As we leave our peak rain/thunderstorm season they will remove it. It's already there so no point in removing it until the season is over.

It’s already in place so may as well leave it as is, better safe than sorry

If they don’t want to take the plug down then maybe they could make it so the locals could drive over it.  
Just for local traffic. Wouldn’t be any worst than having to drive around certain construction zones. Just saying  
 
Edited by 19pointbuck, 2020-07-28 22:28:17

According to City of Bdn Facebook page today (aug 6) there are no immediate plans to remove the dike plug.

Are there any plans to remove the plug?

I thought the only reason they were keeping it in was flood threat. Last week there was an article in the paper with a nice graph showing how rivers lake has come down to pre flood levels. I also seen people kayaking on the little sask on evening since all this has come about.

Contact your MLA Reg Helwer and complain. I did and it didn't get me anywhere. He called me back last week to explain why the plug still exists. Apparently the water flowing over the spillway at Rivers Dam is still a foot deep. There has been erosion at the base of the spillway and until the water stops, they can't do a proper assessment of the damage caused. He said it's very possible that continued erosion could cause the dam to breach. Being as it takes 6 hours for that water to reach Brandon and the length of time it takes to insert the plug back into position, he said the plug will remain in place for the foreseeable future. Not good news. I asked about alternatives - ie, put a road over the dike and he said nothing has been engineered or budgeted for so again, to us residents on Grand Valley Road, we are hooped.

When the bridges were built they should have properly did that intersection and built it to same height as the bridges crossing river.  
 
This would have solved the issues of needing to build the dirt plug anytime there is a possibility of flooding.

Only in Brandon will they do something like blocking a main road into and out of the city. Over and over And over  
The number of times that this PLUG has been put in , you would think somebody would have the smarts to design a way to make it permanent and still allow traffic to pass over.  
The cost of putting in the PLUG and removing it ????????  
Who pays for that ?

I heard it costs 1 million to plug it each time. I’m not sure how true that is, but that is what I heard.  
 
There needs to be a permanent solution.  
 
Based on the comment in this thread about needing to assess the Rivers dam, I assume the road will remain plugged for a minimum of a few more weeks. Won’t be shocked if it’s October before it comes out. Hope I am wrong.

The cost of the plug is born by the city, in order to protect the city.  
 
The cost of rebuilding the road to flood-proof standards as suggested would be born by the province, as both are provincial roads, ergo provincial responsibility.  
 
Thus the reason why there hasn't been a long-term solution.

to originally build it maybe, but can't see it being that much to haul clay from one spot to another.

Yeah, I was skeptical about that amount too.  
 
That does make me curious as to what the cost actually is.  
 
$150,000? $200,000?  
 
It takes some fancy machinery, and a decent amount of labour.

I have a copy of a letter date July 13, 2020. Update for Riverdale Municipality.  
 
It states "As of 2:00 p.m. July 13th, 2020 the Province of Manitoba announced that following the assessment of Rivers Reservoir Damn, the Province has regained confidence in the integrity of the structure.  
 
I phoned Brandon City roads and they told me they were waiting for confirmation that the damn was safe. What is it? Lack of communication!

What would be wrong with moving the intersection north, to the lights at the Safeway entrance. They would have to cut a road across the Research Station field, but not by much.  
Another option would be to extend Breacrest Drive west to the mile road. This cold be a temporary road that is opened when the plug is put in place.  
And go.

is still constantly monitoring the dam and are still restricting access to the area. So I'm thinking they still have some concerns about it.

By the number of boats that are cruising the lake now, dosn't seem that they care if the dam will let go.  
Would think that if there was a danger , all boats would be banned from going onto the water !

Moving the intersection towards the hill would be a good solution.