A crew near the Red Deer River was laying foundations for a new commercial building when the trench wall started to slough. The soil looked stable from the top, but the underlying silt was saturated from a week of heavy rain. This is a common scenario in central Alberta. The surficial geology here shifts quickly between glacial till and alluvial deposits. Monitoring ground behavior isn't just a regulatory checkbox. It's the difference between a controlled dig and a costly collapse. For projects that go deep in the city, deep excavation planning must include real-time instrumentation. Our team installs inclinometers and piezometers right at the shoring line to catch deflection before it becomes a hazard.
In Red Deer's river valley, groundwater can rise two meters in a single day during spring thaw. Monitoring must be continuous.
