Edmonton "Rathole" Project

The Rathole (tunnel/underpass), was constructed in 1927 as an underpass under 104 Avenue, which was a major thoroughfare into the city of Edmonton, and under a span of 22 railway tracks. For 73 years as many as 27,000 cars per day passed through the Rathole. The tunnel had hazardous visibility upon entrance and exit, was subject to flooding periodically and had its fair share of truck drivers who miscalculated the clearance of the tunnel over the years. In order to improve safety,traffic flow and future development, the City of Edmonton decided to completely remove the Rathole and construct 109 Avenue at grade.

In January 2000, the City of Edmonton tendered the project and Standard General Inc was awarded Prime Contractor and was responsible for the demolition of the current structure, rebuilding the road base, sidewalks, curbs, gutters and laying of asphalt.

Edmontonians held no affection for the Rathole, however, they dreaded the inconvenience this reconstruction would cause especially in light of the four month projected schedule. Edmonton City transportation engineers decided to accelerate the construction process, maintaining public safety, addressing environmental concerns and building public support, they achieved that goal and the project was completed on budget, with a good safety record and three weeks ahead of schedule, an unexpected surprise. The project team’s decision to start from the northern side of the Rathole rather than the south cut time. Engineering methods, disciplined time and people management took care of the rest. Instead of taking the whole tunnel out, they changed strategy and removed the concrete out to grade level. Rather than throwing the old concrete away, they crunched it up and recycled it into the fill. Additional time was saved by using a dilute form of concrete (fill-crete)

The old two lane Rathole was replaced by a six lane divided highway at grade level with a new major intersection linking 109 Street and 104 Avenue enabling traffic to go off in any direction thus increasing and giving better access to businesses in the area.