Bearspaw Acreage Excavation North of the Bow River

Lots, Homes and Sites in Bearspaw

The Bearspaw Area Structure Plan sets residential parcels at a minimum of 0.8 ha (1.98 acres), commonly called two-acre lots, and it is candid about why: the servicing standards for private sewage disposal systems made parcels of about two acres the common baseline. Agricultural parcels in the plan area start at 14.2 ha (35 acres). The result is a community of single homes on land big enough to hold a septic field and a detached shop, and the excavation list on a typical build reflects it: a full basement, a shop pad, a septic tank and treatment field, and trenches for water, sewer and power running between them.

Servicing in Bearspaw is a mix. The County's Municipal Development Plan lists municipal piped servicing, private water co-operatives, and private wells and septic systems, and the ASP notes the community historically relied on wells, co-ops and septic fields. The same ASP looks ahead to a shift in focus from private sewage systems toward piped community and, ultimately, regional systems. The plan sets a direction, not a construction date, so a home built today is built on whatever servicing the parcel has now, and we dig to what the approved permit shows.

Slopes change how a basement is dug. On a lot that falls away, the house often steps down to expose one basement wall on the low side, which moves a lot of material from the high side to the low side and needs cut-and-fill planning, so fill under a driveway or patio goes down in compacted lifts rather than loose piles. Excavations deeper than 1.5 m need cutting back or a protective structure before anyone works inside, and on a slope the uphill wall reaches that depth quickly.