7827 Ranchero Dr.  NW – Irrigation Upgrade,  Calgary,  Alberta

PROJECT OWNER:
City of Calgary – Parks

COMPLETION DATE:
2008

ESTIMATED CONSTRUCTION COST:
$280,000

IRRIGATED AREA:
2.5 ha (6.2 acres)

IRRIGATION PRODUCTS:

• Motorola 48-Station IRRINET XM Controller
• Rain Bird Falcon Sprinklers
• HDPE Mainline Piping
• Pressure Reducing Valve

PROJECT OVERVIEW
Ranchlands Park and community is located in the Northwest quadrant of the City of Calgary, Alberta and is used intensively by local minor league soccer. The Ranchlands project was part of a tender package issued in 2007 by the City of Calgary Parks – Capital Irrigation Construction Projects. LIS was successful on two projects both of which were completed on budget.

 
PROJECT CHALLENGES
Generally speaking, the site was relatively straightforward. Available static water pressure at the project Parks water service was excessive (110+ psi) and needed to be reduced. Site security was an issue as the site is susceptible to vandalism but a safety program developed between the City and the irrigation contractor helped mitigate vandalism.
 
SOLUTIONS
LIS and city of Calgary Parks staff analyzed the existing point of connection and determined it was fit. An initial design analysis using SpacePro was conducted for the site and the most efficient and economic sprinklers were selected. Irrigation Water Requirement was established based on evapotranspiration and landscape specific coefficients. The design flow and mainline size was determined. The proposed system was designed using high efficiency irrigation product and in accordance with The City of Calgary Parks, Development Guidelines and Standard Specifications, Landscape Construction, 2007 and the Irrigation Association’s Turf & Landscape Irrigation Best Management Practices. The project construction supervision was conducted in collaboration with City of Calgary staff. An as-built plan was also prepared.
LIS introduced the industry standard for HDPE Pressure testing procedures based on PPI and HDPE manufacturer’s testing protocols and developed industry standard for calculating allowable volume losses in HDPE mainline networks.
LIS is proud to have delivered for the Ranchlands Park site (one of only two irrigation projects within the City of Calgary) a distribution uniformity (DU) analysis completed for the entire site based on as-built information collected post-construction. Results of the analysis indicated the overall site DU with an operating pressure of 70psi was 70.1 while a representative sample from the middle of the sports fields indicated a DU of 76.9.