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The New Duff Roblin Park Reserve
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Land Designation
Park Reserve
Landscape Description
The New Duff Roblin Park Reserve is located approximately four kilometres south of the
Winnipeg Perimeter off PTH 75. It is 56
hectares in size and includes the Floodway Inlet Control Structure
and a portion of the floodway. The park reserve has both
Heritage and Access land use categories (LUC). The 32 hectares of
Heritage LUC land recognizes the historical and
socio-economic
significance of the floodway, while the 24 hectares
reserved for Access LUC purposes
accommodates an
existing tower and utility needs in the floodway inlet area.
Outstanding Features
Named after former Manitoba
Premier Duff Roblin, the park reserve commemorates construction
of
the flood control system
for the City of Winnipeg and will celebrate the establishment of
Manitoba’s system of provincial parks. Construction on the
Greater Winnipeg Floodway, known as Duff’s Ditch, began in 1962 and
took six years to complete. As the largest excavation
project in Canada to date, and one of the largest earthmoving
projects in the world, it required the removal of 76 million cubic
metres of earth. At a length of 47 km and a width equal to that of
the Red River, the Floodway is large enough to be seen from
space.
Since the Floodway’s
completion it has been used twenty times to help control the Red
River flood levels. Without the
Floodway, it is estimated that the 1997 flood would have crested at
10.5 metres, flooding 80 per cent of Winnipeg and forcing
the evacuation of 550,000 of its citizens. In 2000, the Red River
Floodway was designated a National Historic Site, as an “outstanding engineering achievement in flood control.”Manitoba’s Parks and Natural Areas worked with
the Manitoba Floodway Authority to establish this park reserve which
will
provide opportunities for recreational activities while respecting
present and anticipated utility needs in the Floodway inlet
area. Proposed amenities for the site include a parking lot, picnic
areas and shelters, walking and bicycling trails, washroom,
drinking water and fishing facilities, bike racks, a toboggan run
and landscape improvements.
