Town of Cochrane

Cochrane Excavation on Bow Valley Hillsides

Cochrane sits on the Bow River west of Calgary, and parts of the town are built on valley slopes that decide how a dig is planned. The Town's plan for Rivercrest describes post-glacial kettle topography with moderately steep slopes of 15 to 20 degrees and about 50 m of relief. We excavate basements, retaining wall bases, drainage and slope work in Cochrane with the grade, the soil and the runoff worked out before a machine arrives.

Homes stepping down a hillside above a wide river valley, with the foothills and mountains in the distance.

At a Glance

Municipality: Town of Cochrane
From our downtown office: About 40 minutes west on Highway 1A
Typical servicing: Municipal water and sewer
Postal prefixes: T4C

(825) 475-5548

Lots, Homes and Sites in Cochrane

Cochrane has grown quickly. It was incorporated as a town in 1971, once its population had passed 800; the 2024 municipal census counted 37,011 residents, and the Town reports 43.1% growth since 2016. The census lists 21 neighbourhoods, from Downtown and the East End to Fireside, Heartland, Riversong and Southbow Landing, and marks several as still growing. New homes on sloping lots are the work that sets Cochrane apart. A basement cut into a hillside often exposes one wall on the low side, which moves more earth than a flat-lot dig and turns rough grading into a genuine cut-and-fill exercise.

Slopes bring retaining walls, and a retaining wall is mostly excavation. A block, timber or boulder wall stands on a base trench cut to the designer's width and depth, a compacted granular levelling pad, drainage stone and a perforated pipe behind the wall, and, for taller walls, geogrid layers that reach back into the slope and need their own excavation. We dig and prepare that base and drainage; the wall itself is built by the landscaper or wall contractor. Tall walls, and walls holding up a driveway or a building, need an engineer's design, and the Town of Cochrane sets its own permit requirements for them, so we confirm those before the base is dug.

The rest of Cochrane's excavation is what any growing town needs: backfill and grading around new foundations, weeping tile and foundation drainage digs on finished homes, and haul-off of spoil where a sloping lot has nowhere flat to store it. On a hillside that last point matters more than it sounds. Spoil left at the top of a slope loads the ground above the excavation and washes down in the first heavy rain, so on steep lots the surplus is trucked off site and bring back only what the backfill needs, sorting topsoil from clean fill as it goes.

Ground, Water and Frost

The Town calls the Bow River one of Cochrane's defining natural features. Rivercrest is the documented example of what valley ground can look like: the 2017 plan for that land, immediately south of the Bow River and east of Highway 22, describes post-glacial kettle topography, moderately steep slopes of 15 to 20 degrees and about 50 m of relief. We do not stretch those figures to the rest of the town, but any Cochrane lot with real slope needs the same questions answered: where the cut goes, where the fill goes, how runoff leaves the site during construction, and whether a geotechnical engineer should design the slope before we touch it.

On slopes, Alberta's excavation rules carry more weight. Any excavation deeper than 1.5 m needs cutting back, a temporary protective structure or both before a worker is inside; the OHS Code sets cut-back angles by soil type and treats mixed soils as the least stable type present; spoil piles go at least 1 m back from the edge with a face no steeper than 45 degrees; and past 3 m of depth, shoring on a hillside cut is built to a professional engineer's specifications. For foundations, Alberta's current building code edition sets 1.2 m as the least a heated basement footing on clay may sit below grade, and a foundation next door that the dig could affect must be supported by an engineered structure before digging starts.

Neighbourhood Notes

Rivercrest

South of the Bow River and east of Highway 22, with the kettle topography, 15 to 20 degree slopes and about 50 m of relief described in its 2017 plan. Basements, walls and grading here are designed around the slope, with geotechnical input.

Downtown and the East End

Two of the 21 neighbourhoods in the Town's census. On built lots, the work is usually additions, garage pads, weeping tile and service line digs, done with compact machines and spoil hauled off as it is dug.

Fireside and Heartland

Named in the 2024 census. On lots under construction, backfill goes in against braced walls in lifts, and the final grade must slope away from the house even where the lot itself falls the other way.

Riversong and Southbow Landing

Also in the Town's census list. During construction on any phase near the valley, silt fence and covered stockpiles keep sediment on the lot instead of in the street drains and the river corridor.

GlenEagles, Heritage Hills and West Terrace

Named in the census with Bow Ridge, Glenbow, Greystone and Sunset Ridge. Where a yard steps down, retaining wall bases and the drainage behind them are the excavation that makes a wall last.

Highway 1A (Bow Valley Trail)

The main route from Calgary for our floats and trucks; Cochrane is roughly 40 minutes' drive from downtown. On hillside streets, loads are sequenced so a truck is never left waiting on a steep grade.

Highway 22

Named in the Rivercrest plan, which lies on its east side. Gravel, drainage stone and backfill for sites near it can come in without long runs through residential streets.

Permits and Locates in Cochrane

Authority having jurisdiction: Town of Cochrane

Permits in Cochrane come from the Town of Cochrane, which runs its own building permits and inspections, so confirm with the Town what a basement, a retaining wall or a grading change needs before work is booked. Cochrane North and Cochrane Lake are different: both are Rocky View County communities, not part of the town, and the County issues permits there. We place the Utility Safety Partners request for utility-owned lines three or more full working days out, allow extra time in peak season, and have marks refreshed if the job runs past their expiry, which is 30 calendar days at most. On a sloping site we re-check paint marks after heavy rain, and remember that a mark shows a line's position, never its depth.

The Excavation Work Cochrane Calls For Most

Deep Basement Excavation

Full and walkout basement digs for new custom homes on open lots and acreages.

Retaining Wall Base Excavation

Wall base trenches, compacted levelling pads and drainage. We dig; your builder builds.

Slope Stabilization & Erosion Control

Runoff diversion, benching, riprap, silt fence and revegetation on slopes and banks.

Foundation Backfilling & Perimeter Grading

Compacted backfill against new foundations and a perimeter grade that sheds water.

French Drain & Weeping Tile Excavation

Digs to the footing, new perforated tile in clear stone, and yard French drains.

Site Clean-Up & Material Haul-Off

Dirt, clay, rock and debris sorted, hauled off and the site left clean.

Every service we offer

Close to Cochrane

Springbank

Two-acre country residential lots between the Bow and Elbow rivers, west of Calgary.

Bearspaw

Country residential acreages northwest of Calgary, between Highway 1A and Cochrane.

Rocky View County

Growth hamlets, country residential communities and farmland beside Calgary.

Excavation in Cochrane: Questions

Do you build retaining walls in Cochrane?

We excavate and prepare the base, not the finished wall. For a block, timber or boulder wall on a Cochrane slope, we cut the base trench to the design width and depth, place and compact the granular levelling pad, excavate back into the slope for geogrid where the design calls for it, and place drainage stone and pipe behind the wall line. The wall builder then sets the units. Taller walls, or walls holding up a driveway or building, need an engineer's design, and the Town of Cochrane's permit requirements apply, so check those before the base is dug.

Are Rivercrest's slopes typical of all of Cochrane?

Not necessarily. The 15 to 20 degree slopes, kettle topography and roughly 50 m of relief come from the Town's 2017 plan for Rivercrest, land immediately south of the Bow River and east of Highway 22. They describe that area, not the whole town. No comparable figures have been published for the other neighbourhoods, so the reliable answer for a lot comes from a site visit, the survey and, where the slope is significant, a geotechnical report. What holds everywhere is that sloping lots need cut-and-fill planning, runoff control, and excavation protection sized to the deepest part of the dig.

Can spoil from a Cochrane basement dig stay on the lot?

Some of it, if the lot has a safe place for it. The backfill has to come back, so we keep that portion on site when there is flat ground at least 1 m back from the excavation, as the OHS Code requires, and away from the top of any slope. On steep lots there often is not, and a stockpile at the top of a slope adds load above the dig and washes out in the first heavy rain. In that case we truck the surplus off site, keep topsoil separate from clean fill, and bring back suitable backfill when the foundation is ready.

Digging in Cochrane?

Call or send the details. Aspen Excavating works from downtown Calgary, and we will look at the site and the access before we price it.

(825) 475-5548 Send the Details