The City of Guelph announced on January 14 that construction of its new snow-storage pad on Wellington Street West is now complete.

The pad, which spans 18,600 square metres—about twelve times the area of a hockey rink—is built from recycled concrete and asphalt. The storage pad provides an environmentally-friendly solution for snow collected in the city.

“Throughout winter, the city clears 500 to 2,000 truckloads of snow, ice, sand and salt from roads, bike lanes and sidewalks,” said Doug Godfrey, the city’s general manager of operations. “In some cases, such as residential streets, the snow is simply cleared out of the way to ensure safe travel for drivers, cyclists and pedestrians. In other cases, such as large parking lots, bridges and some downtown streets, the snow has to be scooped up and moved elsewhere.”

For almost three decades, the city would store snow at an empty field near Wellington Road and Imperial Road. Each spring, snow would melt directly into the sandy soil below and around the field.

In 2019, the city received a $3.5-million grant through Infrastructure Canada’s Clean Water and Wastewater Fund to build a state-of-the-art snow storage pad to provide better environmental controls and improve the operational efficiency of the site.

Working with consulting firm GHD Limited and Melfer Construction, the city used approximately 3,500 cubic metres of recycled concrete and asphalt paving to build the pad.

“The pad is equipped with a drainage system and low permeability lining to reduce erosion and protect the natural environment,” said environmental engineer Prasoon Adhikari. “Now as snow melts on the pad, it’s collected and directed to a stormwater management pond where it’s slowly filtered before making its way into nearby wetlands.”

As part of the project, the city conducted an environmental impact study and planted native plant species known to attract bee and butterfly pollinators, as well as salt-resistant native trees and shrubs, throughout the site.

The city also built a year-round weather station and a commercial net-metered solar panel system that will help reduce the site’s carbon footprint and support the city’s goal to achieve a net-zero carbon future by 2050.