Archeological sites at the forks, where the Assiniboine river meets the Red, tell a story of prehistoric floods. Layers upon layers of flood deposits reach back in time. Ten meters of deposits have been uncovered, representing the last 8500 yrs. A flood around 1200 deposited a layer of 30 cm ( 12 inches ) deep. Our largest flood on record since we settled here was in 1826 which left a layer of 5-8 cm ( 2-3 inches ) deep. The top ten floods since 1800 measured on the Red River at James Ave in Winnipeg were in order of size are: 1826, 1852, 1997, 2009, 1861, 2011, 1950, 1979, 1996, and 2006. The 1950 natural disaster which had no floodway to help with the flow of the Red River caused enormous damage to the city of Winnipeg. In 1950 dike after dike was breached as the water rose in Winnipeg. The water reached 4.6 meters ( 15 ft ) in low-lying areas and stayed for 51 days. One third of Winnipeg was flooded with 100,000 residents being evacuated. This was the largest evacuation in Canadian history at the time. On October 11, 1968, with a blast of river water from a water bomber overhead, the Red River floodway ws christened and officially opened. It was six years in the making and cost $63 million dollars which has paid for itself many times over. The Red River floodway was designated a national historical site in 2000. The designation refers to the inlet control structure you see in the distance; the floodway channel beside you, and the outlet control structure at the North end.
The primary purpose of the trail is to act as a service access road to support the emergency and operational needs of the floodway. When not in use for floodway purposes, the public will be able to use the floodway service access as a recreational trail for pedestrian and non-motorized activities.
A key focus of the development was to provide linkages to the existing recreational opportunities such as the Trans-Canada Trail and Birds Hill Provincial Park. In the future, the new Duff Roblin Provincial Park, located near the south end of the floodway, will link directly into the Duff Roblin Parkway Trail.
The trail network includes the following components:
- A 46 km trail, located on the west side of the floodway, that begins near the St. Mary’s Road Bridge in the south and ends just south of Lockport. Approximately 5 kms of the trail between the Garven Road Staging Area and Dunning Road is paved.
- A 3.2 km trail on the east side of the floodway, known as the Kirkness Spur, that runs from near the new pedestrian overpass bridge to Kirkness Road.
- A 2.8 km paved trail leading from the pedestrian overpass bridge into Birds Hill Provincial Park called the Cedar Bog Spur.
The public can park their vehicles and begin their journey from one of a number of staging areas located along the floodway. The staging areas are located at:
- Prairie Grove – located at km 8 of the DRPT (north-west side of the PTH 59 South Highway Bridge)
- Gunn Road – located at km 24 of the DRPT (just off PTH #1 outside of Transcona)
- Garven Road – located at km 31 (just northeast of Birds Hill Town – follow Garven Road to where it meets the floodway)
- Donald Road – located at km 37 (just off PR 202 north of the Dunning Road turnoff)
- Lockport – located at km 44 (south of Lockport just off PR 202)
- Kirkness – located on the east side of floodway at the junction of PTH 59 and Kirkness Road
- Cedar Bog Trailhead – located in Birds Hill Provincial Park
To log this earthcache we require you answer these simple questions who's answers are on the signs at the posted coordinates.
1. The 1950 flood through the Red River Valley was the worst natural disaster in Canadian history at the time. What were some of the conditions that warned of a great flood? Two of the three conditions are sufficient for this question.
2. How many homes and building were damaged during the 1950 flood?
3. Around what year was a flood 6 times greater than our largest flood on record.
4. What do you think would have happened in 1950 if we had the floodway?
You can take a picture of yourself at the floodway gates or at the posted coordinates and include them in your log. This is optional.
Off in the distance to the West is the Inlet control structure at the bridge. it is the most important part of Winnipeg's flood protection. That is where the floodway operation begins.
I hope you enjoy this earthcache and please email us with the answers before logging this cache as found.