GREAT CANADIAN PROJECTS
By late April of 2019, a cold, snowy winter, a late spring
melt and an unusually rainy spring led to extremely
high water upstream of the St. Lawrence River system
in areas of Quebec east of Ottawa and Cornwall,
Ont. On the evening of April 27, 2019, in the region of Sainte-
Marthe-sur-le-Lac, an off-island suburban community of
18,000 about 40 kilometres northwest of Montreal, a 20-
metre breach in a natural earthen dike quickly became wider
as the high, rushing water from Lac des Deux-Montagnes
coursed through the weakened structure, which then completely
broke down.
The quickly rising water, in some cases high enough to
submerge cars and strong enough to snap trees, resulted in
the widespread flooding of dozens of streets and damage to
about 2,500 properties. A state of emergency was declared
by the government. More than 6,000 people – a third of the
community’s residents – were ordered to evacuate to higher
ground, with teams from the Sûreté du Québec, the Canadian
army, local fire and police departments and volunteers from
neighbouring municipalities deployed to provide assistance
to the victims. The next morning, as the water level continued
to rise, flooding extended a half-kilometre inland and
another 100 properties had to be evacuated. By the time the
waters receded, almost a third of the town’s homes had been
flooded, according to news reports. Sixty of them were damaged
so severely that they had to be demolished.
Building
Peace of
Mind
A five-kilometre sheet-pile
dike wall was accomplished
in three-and-a-half months
By Barb Feldman
CONTINUED ON PAGE 33
PILING CANADA 31