Alberta Environment and Parks retained NHC in June 2021 to collect survey and base data for the Hinton Flood Study. The study area includes 26.8 km of the Athabasca River, starting from just upstream of the Highway 40 bridge, at the west edge of NE-1-51-26 W5M, through the Town of Hinton and Yellowhead County, to the east edge of SW-4-52-24-W5M. Within this area four tributaries that flow through the Town of Hinton are also included in the survey and base data collection:

  • 2 km of Hardisty Creek, from the south edge of NW-12-51-25-W5M to the confluence of the Athabasca River;
  • 4 km of Maskuta Creek, form the south edge of NW-24-50-26-W5M to the confluence of the Athabasca River;
  • 7 km of Happy Creek, from the south edge of SE-10-51-25-W5M to the confluence of the Athabasca River; and
  • 6 km of Cold Creek, from the east edge of SW-30-50-25-W5M to the confluence of the Maskuta Creek.

The survey and base data collection is comprised of six major components (Site Visit & Survey Planning, River Cross Section Survey, Hydraulic Structure Data Collection, Flood Control Structure Data Collection, Flood Highwater Mark Investigation, and Survey & DTM Data Comparison). In total, 636 river cross sections and 39 hydraulic structures are surveyed as part of this project.

Alberta Environment and Parks retained NHC again in February 2022 to also complete a flood study for the Town of Hinton. The study was conducted according to Flood Hazard Identification Program Guidelines, incorporating technical changes implemented in 2021 regarding how floodways are mapped in Alberta. The overall objectives of the study are to enhance public safety and to reduce potential future flood damages and disaster assistance costs.

The study is comprised of four major project components: Open Water Hydrology Assessment, Open Water Hydraulic Modelling, Open Water Flood Inundation Mapping, and Design Flood Hazard Mapping.

Flood frequencies with various return periods were determined through the hydrology assessment. Development of a 1D-2D coupled hydraulic model is ongoing with the survey data and DTM. The model will be used to simulate a total of 13 flood scenarios, and flood inundation maps will be subsequently created for the 2-, 5-, 10-, 20-, 35-, 50-, 75-, 100-, 200-, 350-, 500-, 750-, and 1000-year events. The results will be used to delineate the floodway and flood fringe boundaries and to create floodway criteria/flood hazard maps.