More problems with the Calgary Municipal Building trusses

The City of Calgary is going to spend $8 million on repairs to a truss located between the fourth and fifth floors of the Municipal Building.

Located roughly above council chambers, details of the project were included in this week’s new civic budget.

“It’s important to note that the truss is designed for the load that it currently carries and there’s no safety risk,” city director of facility management Ian Fleming told CBC News.

“But we wanted to make sure that the work that we’re doing helped enable the durability of the asset longer term.”

Fleming says $8 million of repair work will start in December. It’s expected to be complete by the end of 2023.

Fleming says there won’t be a lot for the public to see because the truss is located between floors and is “not visually accessible.”

But, he says, crews will use scaffolding to access the area.

Work will also be done on two other floors in the building damaged by minor flooding caused by a cooling system malfunction in 2020.

This isn’t the first time repairs have taken place on trusses in the city complex.

A few years ago, the city had to close portions of the Municipal Building due to concerns about steel trusses that were installed incorrectly during construction in the 1980s.

Those repairs were done but the city had a consultant examine other trusses in the building, which generated recommendations about how to improve the load management of what’s known as truss C, on the northwest side of the building.

As well, the city is planning to spend $3 million to update public service counters on the third floor.