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Foothills County

De Winton Acreage Excavation South of Calgary

De Winton is a rural hamlet of Foothills County on the Highway 552 and Macleod Trail corridor, about 25 km south of downtown Calgary, surrounded by acreage country. It is not on the County's published lists of piped water and sewer service, so each parcel's servicing has to be confirmed before a single trench is planned. We build the driveways, pads, basements and utility trenches that acreage properties need, and we check the servicing first.

A gravel country road with fence lines and hay fields, and acreage homes and shelterbelts spread across gently rolling land.

At a Glance

Municipality
Foothills County
From our downtown office
About 35 minutes south of downtown
Typical servicing
Not on the county’s piped utility lists; confirm for each lot
Postal prefixes
T0L

Lots, Homes and Sites in De Winton

Foothills County's Municipal Development Plan describes its country residential lots as traditional acreage lots, and says lots with individual wells and septic systems are appropriate in some instances. That is the setting around De Winton: houses, shops and outbuildings on land large enough to need its own access and drainage, and often its own servicing. The excavation list follows the land. A new build or a shop starts with a stripped, compacted gravel driveway strong enough for concrete and lumber trucks, a building pad cut and filled to grade, and a basement dug to undisturbed soil at a footing depth the soil report and the code support.

Servicing is the first question here. Foothills County lists the subdivisions and hamlets it supplies with water, including Priddis Greens, Hawk's Landing, Aldersyde, Blackie and Cayley, and a shorter list it supplies with sewer. De Winton is on neither list, and we do not assume what that means for a given parcel. If a lot uses a private sewage system, the design and permit come from a certified installer under the 2021 Alberta Private Sewage Systems Standard of Practice, and we dig the soil test pits, tank hole and treatment field to that design. If it uses a well, the water line trench runs deep and is kept clear of the septic setbacks.

The County's Eden Park Estates Area Structure Plan, adopted in 2000 for land south of De Winton, is a reminder that planned acreage subdivisions sit near the hamlet. On an established acreage the work is often replacement rather than new build: a failed treatment field, a new water line from the well, a power trench to a shop, or a driveway rebuilt after spring breakup has pumped mud through the gravel. Private lines like these belong to the owner, so the utility locate will not show them, and we find them by private locate or by hand before the machine works near them.

Neighbourhood Notes

Highway 552 corridor

Highway 552, mapped as 32 Street W and 226 Avenue W, runs close to the hamlet. Acreages reached from it need the County's approach requirements checked before a driveway and culvert go in.

Macleod Trail (Highway 2A)

De Winton is generally described as lying west of Highway 2A, just south of Calgary. Gravel, pipe and machine deliveries come down 2A, so we plan turning room for trucks at the approach before the first load arrives.

Deerfoot Trail (Highway 2)

Also within a few kilometres of the hamlet. It gives floats and tandem trucks a direct route south from the city when fill, gravel or export has to move in volume.

Eden Park Estates

The County's Eden Park Estates Area Structure Plan covers land south of De Winton. In a planned acreage subdivision, check for approved grading or drainage plans before reshaping a yard, so runoff stays on its intended path.

Traditional acreage lots

The County's MDP calls country residential lots traditional acreage lots. Here that usually means a house, a shop, a long driveway and outbuilding pads, each needing its own compacted base and drainage.

Private wells

Where a parcel uses a well, the Headwaters Health Unit tests private wells in the County. The Standard of Practice keeps septic tanks 10 m and treatment fields 15 m from a well, and we keep machines and spoil clear of the well head.

Permits and Locates in De Winton

Authority having jurisdiction: Foothills County

De Winton is governed by Foothills County, whose building permits page rules out any construction, foundation work or excavation before the permit is in hand. The County takes Private Sewage Treatment System applications through its Building and Safety Codes Department, and a private sewage installation must be inspected before backfill is complete, so the inspector can determine the length of the laterals, the depth of bedding, the type of field used and the depth of gravel cover. Private wells in the County are tested by the Headwaters Health Unit, with bacteria testing and chemical analysis. Any utility-owned power, gas or telecom line on or near the parcel is marked through a Utility Safety Partners request made no less than three full working days before the dig.

Excavation in De Winton: Questions

Are De Winton acreages on wells and septic?
Some may be, but do not assume it for your parcel. De Winton is not on Foothills County's published lists of the hamlets and subdivisions it supplies with piped water or sewer, and the County's MDP says traditional country residential lots with individual wells and septic systems are appropriate in some instances. Neither of those confirms what a particular lot has. Check your property records, any existing system paperwork and the County before planning work. Once the servicing is confirmed, we plan the trench routes, the septic excavation if one is needed, and the setbacks between them.
What does Foothills County inspect before a septic field is backfilled?
Foothills County's building permits page says a private sewage installation must be inspected before backfill is complete, and that the inspector must be able to determine the length of the laterals, the depth of bedding, the type of field used and the depth of gravel cover. In practice that means the trenches stay open, clean and at the design dimensions until the inspection is done. The design and permit belong to a certified installer working to the 2021 Alberta Private Sewage Systems Standard of Practice; we excavate to that design and backfill only after the field has been inspected.
Do I need a culvert for a new De Winton driveway?
Where the driveway crosses a road ditch, it may well need one, and Foothills County is the authority to ask. We do not borrow a culvert size from another municipality's standards; we ask the County for its approach and culvert requirements for your road before ordering pipe. Once they are confirmed, we set the culvert on a bedded, compacted base at the ditch grade, cover it deeply enough to spread wheel loads, armour the ends where water runs fast, and build the approach so it drains away from the road surface rather than onto it.

Digging in De Winton?

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.