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THEBACHA/FORT SMITH - A road bypassing the Slave River rapids was put to the test last week to see if it could handle a portaging revival.

Representatives of Arctic Module Inland Transportation (AMIT) conducted two tests on the 38-kilometre stretch of road between Fort Fitzgerald at the south end of the rapids and Fort Smith's Bell Rock to the north.

On July 28-29, Arctic Module Inland Transportation conducted tests on a portage road between Fort Smith and Fort Fitzgerald, Alta. - photo courtesy of Martin Landry, Arctic Module Inland Transportation

The July 28-29 tests are part of AMIT's larger study of a proposed northern barging route for modules headed to the booming oilsands in and around Fort McMurray.

"It was to test the capacity of the road," said Martin Landry, project director with AMIT, which is owned 50/50 by Northern Transportation Company Limited and Mammoet, a company based in the Netherlands.

"This portage test is one of many pieces of the project," Landry added.

On July 29, a self-propelled moving trailer (SPMT) was slowly driven the 19 km from Fort Fitzgerald over the unpaved section of the road to just past where the chipseal begins south of Fort Smith. The journey lasted about six hours.

The trailer was loaded with 112 metric tonnes, even more weight than such vehicles would each carry when moving a module.

A module, which weighs between 800 and 2,000 tonnes would be carried on a number of SPMTs, side by side and in a line.

Landry noted, while there were several soft spots on the road, an independent engineer hired by AMIT was satisfied with the results of the test.

An earlier test was conducted July 28 on the 19 km chipsealed roadway from just south of Fort Smith to Bell Rock.

The test used a device to drop a large weight on the chipseal to simulate the load produced by a rolling vehicle wheel.

Data from the two tests was collected to be analyzed.

Landry said the overall study is being done for an AMIT client, who could not be named because of a confidentiality agreement.

However, he said the client is a company involved in the oilsands development.

The results of the study are expected by November and the client will use the information to decide then whether to proceed with the project.

"It will mean opening up a new trade route, basically," Landry said.

The route would begin in Inuvik and proceed down the Mackenzie, Slave and Athabasca rivers to near Fort McMurray.

"The earliest it could possibly start operating would be 2012/2013," Landry said.

If the project goes ahead, 20 to 30 modules per year from as far away as China could be moved along the route.

Landry noted there was a portaging industry between Fort Fitzgerald and Fort Smith years ago.

"It's reopening the same route, except in a different direction," he said of the new proposal, noting past portaging mostly involved goods heading north.

Fort Smith Mayor Peter Martselos welcomed the testing.

"I'm very happy and very excited to see the equipment here in town," he said last week.

Martselos said renewed barging on the Slave River and portaging around the rapids would mean economic opportunity and jobs for Fort Smith.

The mayor noted even the recent testing benefited the community through spin-offs for hotels and restaurants and the hiring of support workers, such as pilot truck drivers.

"Every little bit helps," he said.

Martselos noted portaging in Fort Smith was a major industry for decades until the late 1960s, but since then only the occasional barge or vessel has been portaged around the rapids.

However, he is hopeful the glory days of portaging might return to Fort Smith, noting, "I say history repeats itself."