Spyhill Landfill Reclamation (Stage 1 Cover, Phase II)
Client:
City of Calgary
Location:
Calgary, Alberta
Year:
2018-2021
Project Scope
The Spyhill Landfill Reclamation project, an undertaking for the City of Calgary, involved the complete redesign and construction of an aging landfill cap. The scope encompassed rough grading and the handling, screening, and placement of over one million cubic metres of soil, construction of a new low-impact Evapotranspiration design comprising five cells, soil management pad construction, road construction, SVE well modifications, garbage removal, lift station installation, geomembrane application, and the establishment of access roads, culverts, drainage ditches, swales, fencing, and site seeding.
- Rough grading and screening/placement of 1,000,000+ m³ of heterogeneous landfill cover material
- New low-impact Evapotranspiration cap design, five cells constructed to compaction and permeability specifications
- Soil management pad construction; SVE well modifications; garbage removal; lift station installation
- Geomembrane application; access roads, culverts, drainage ditches, swales, fencing, and site seeding
- Dedicated screening plant deployed for continuous material classification and placement tracking
Challenge & Mitigation
Managing the screening and reuse of over one million cubic metres of heterogeneous landfill cover material required continuous screening operations, material classification, and strategic placement to meet the design's compaction and permeability requirements across five distinct evapotranspiration cells. Whissell deployed a dedicated screening plant and developed a material management plan that tracked soil quality and placement locations in real time, ensuring only suitable material was incorporated into the new cap structure.
Value Add Solution
By maximizing the reuse of on-site screened material rather than importing clean fill, Whissell significantly reduced material costs and off-site disposal volumes. The project was delivered on budget and stands as one of Whissell's most significant environmental construction achievements, demonstrating the firm's capacity to manage large-scale landfill reclamation programs from earthworks through to final seeding and restoration.
