Drumheller Downtown Dike

Drumheller is a town northeast of Calgary, in Alberta, Canada. As a flood-prone community, residents need to take proactive steps to prepare for potential flooding events.​

The existing Downtown Dike was an approximately 1200 m long earthen fill dike located in Central Drumheller along the right bank of the Red Deer River. Previously, the Dike would be overtopped when the Red Deer River saw flows of 1,110 m³/s or greater and has historically been insufficient to provide overtopping protection in the 2005 and 2013 flood events.

SweetTech was retained by the Town’s Resiliency and Flood Mitigation Office to provide engineering services for the design, tendering, and construction management for the expansion of the existing dike to mitigate the impacts of potential future flood events. SweetTech’s designs incorporated stormwater system upgrades, Redi-Rock retaining walls, and a multi-use asphalt pathway on top of the dike fill. Through the design process SweetTech was involved in substantial public consultation and stakeholder engagement to ensure successful project delivery.

Construction of the Downtown Dike improvements was completed in June 2024.