T-R PHOTO BY JOE FISHER The S. Center Street viaduct is slate for heavy construction in 2022. Jay Koch, engineer with the Public Works Department, said the intent is to complete phase one of construction next year.
The city’s sewer project taking place near the center of town is more than a month behind schedule, according to engineer Jay Koch with the Public Works Department.
It’s actually close to two and a half months behind schedule Koch said, because of several factors including the COVID-19 pandemic, labor shortages and working around other utilities.
“This work was all supposed to be completed by Nov. 30,” he said. “We’re about, I’d like to say two-thirds of the way but not quite.”
Construction is being done by Veith Construction Company from Cedar Falls. The early estimates for the project were about $3.6 million but bids came in lower than expected and it actually turned out to be $2.8 million.
In the next month Koch expects the intersection of W. Olive Street and S. Fourth Street to be finished and resurfaced. Then Veith will work its way south toward Edgeland Drive.
Koch hopes to see the stretch south to Edgeland Drive resurfaced before winter but it will be a race against time, and weather. Work to be done on the stretch includes curb, gutter and driveways. Most plants supplying asphalt will be closed by the end of November which would signal the end of construction season on this project.
“Trying to get through winter on gravel streets is just not something that we want to do,” he said. “We’re holding the contractor’s feet to fire on those issues.”
The reasons for construction falling behind schedule are varied. Koch said the biggest factors have been the COVID pandemic and a labor shortage which at times will see only three construction workers on site.
“The other thing is utility conflicts like crazy,” he said. “We sent out plans to all the utility companies in May 2020 and there’s just a few that have not been cooperative at all.”
To help avoid conflicts in the future, Koch said the city plans to make changes to where utilities are allowed to be placed in the right of way. Some existing utilities such as fiber optic cable have been placed right behind the street curb in some cases. This is right where the storm sewer will be put in.
Koch estimates at least 30 days have been lost due to utility conflicts.
It’s hard to estimate when the sewer project will be completed. If construction is able to resume in April, it could be finished by early June.
“It depends how early we can get started,” Koch said. “No matter what we do we’re going to impact the schools again.”
The sewer project isn’t the only enormous construction project the city has on its plate. The S. Center Street viaduct is expected to start the first phase of construction sometime in 2022. Phase one will tackle the highest priority needs of the bridge which are largely structural issues. The cost of phase one is an estimated $1.8 million.
Stanley Consultants shut the bridge down in April to evaluate what needed to be done on the bridge.
Phase two of the project will focus more on cosmetics, basic maintenance and installation of new railings. The cost of that phase is an estimated $3.5 million.
The city is funding the viaduct reconstruction with general obligation bonding.
Because there are two phases to the viaduct project which the city can’t afford to do all at once, the bridge will be closed two separate times.
“It would be nice to only close the bridge once but funding won’t allow it,” Koch said. “A $5 million project isn’t something the city can just jump into right away. We’re very fortunate to have two other viaducts within three blocks.”
To make traffic flow better during the closing of the viaduct, the city might consider placing temporary traffic signaling at the intersection of W. Madison Street and Third Street.
The biggest hurdle the viaduct project faces is coordinating with Union Pacific because construction will be done above the railroad tracks. Koch is optimistic this process won’t slow things down too much.
“We’re actually a little bit ahead of schedule on the railroad permitting,” he said. “One of the reasons we went with Stanley was because of their relationship with Union Pacific.”
The viaduct project is expected to go out to bid early in 2022. Koch said the intent is to finish phase one of construction by the end of next year.
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