KCAU TV Spotlights Project

Thanks to KCAU TV in Sioux City for coming over today and spotlighting the East Central Storm Water Project.  The story was shown on the 6:00PM news tonight and is available on their web page - you can view the video of the story here:

Storm Lake Takes Steps Against Severe Street Flooding

Work continues to move forward with the weather providing a break from rain and snow Lundell Construction is working hard to make lots of progress while the weather is good.

Crews were busy working today on the manhole on the north side of the HWY 7 and also on digging out the first pond at the Sunrise Pointe Golf Course.

Work will continue with the shaping of the pond and then the digging and shaping of the second pond which will contain the iron filling sand mixture that will remove phosphorous from the water prior to the water out letting into Lake Storm Lake.

We'll try to add some more pictures on the project tomorrow.

Rain, Rain, and more Rain

Progress was moving forward on the East Central project through the early days of this week but with all the moisture progress has ground to a stand still, giving me a few minutes to get caught up on blog entries.

Before we get caught up on the project I want to take a minute to review why we are doing the project.  With all the rain in the past couple of days water is backing up on Tulip Lane causing residents problems accessing their driveways and homes.

Tulip Lane Water Build Up April 17th

There are a couple reasons for the backups the first is the inability of the existing storm water collection system to pick up the amount of rain and runoff that is existing in the area from minor to major events.  The system that is present is nothing more than a slightly enhance field tile drainage system that was never intended to handle the amount of run off from an urban section such as what is built there now.

The second reason is the amount of debris and trash that collects in this area.  City crews have been out to the Tulip Lane area several times over the past few days and cleaned out clogs in the intakes that are due to the accumulation of trash and debris getting washed into the intakes and collection system.  Once clogged the water that had a slow route out ends up with NO route out.  Residents in the area can help this second issue by picking up garbage and ensuring that grass and leaves don't get into the street and to the intakes.

So in summary two issues here 1. limited capacity in the existing system and 2. garbage and debris blocking the limited capacity.  The solution to the first issue is on the way through this project.  Capacity will be greatly enhanced and the water will be cleaned through the enhance collection process.  The solution to the second problem could still cause problems in the future if we all don't do our part to help keep the intakes clean.  Remember that pop bottle that gets washed down will block the system or eventually end up in the lake - neither option is something we want to achieve.

Now back to the project . . .

As we have talked about previously the only way to work the project is to focus on the southern portion of the project first so that as we get to the areas like Tulip Lane where massive amounts of water are waiting to be collected and moved we have the systems in place below to handle them and clean the water prior to out letting it into the lake.  Thus the majority of the work on the project is focus right now around the golf course where the major holding ponds will be located.

Work on Monday continued to build the structures that are on either side of the HWY 7 bore.

Manhole on South side of HWY 7 where other storm water pipes join prior to going into the ponds in the golf course.

The picture above shows the new manhole installed on the south side of HWY 7 with the joining locations for the other storm water lines coming in.  The manhole is connected at the bottom to the line that was bored in last week and that will bring water in from the areas to the north once everything is connected.  The smaller lines coming in from the east and west are lines that bring in storm water collected along the HWY 7/East Lakeshore Drive road through the existing rain gardens.

Prior to the manhole being installed you could see as shown in the picture below the pipe that was bored into place under the road.

The south side of the storm water pipe that was bored into place.

Crews from Lundell were also preparing to start work on the ponds in the golf course.  Prior to digging the ponds they had to prepare an area for placement of the dirt they were going to excavate.  In our plan that dirt will help form some additional berms on the course.  To prevent run off from the piles as they build them they started by installing silt fence which is actually dug into the ground around the areas where the berms will be built.

Crews install Silt Fence

The next step was to pull off the top layer of black dirt on the existing area which will be reserved for placement back on top to provide a good fertile soil for the grass to grow.

Crews removing black dirt from the existing course where the new berms will be placed.

The contractor is hopeful that if we can get a week to a week and a half of good weather they can get the ponds on the golf course dug and established and the berms in place.  The key being good weather and even though the rain may not be falling after the amount that we have had and with more on the way it could take some time to dry the area out before work can resume.

Construction Starts - Force Main Relocation & Boring Activities

Well construction crews are here and they are making good progress hoping that the weather holds out while they are working on the areas around the golf course to get the work done prior to the early completion day for that phase of the work.

One of the first things that needed to be done on the golf course work was the reloaction of the sanitary sewer force main that runs through the project area on the golf course. 

Crews work at installing the new sanitary sewer force main on the project.

The crews were busy installing the new line last week and this morning (April 8th) they will do the cut over from the existing to the new.  This "cut over" process requires coordination and City staff along with staff from Veolia will be monitoring the site throughout the process.  The process is expected to take about 1.5 to 2 hours to complete. 

Once the santiary sewer line is out of the way the contractor will begin the work of excavating the ponds on the golf course.  City crews have removed the water lines for the irrigation system already and so pending weather we could see ponds starting to take shape later this week!

Also last week crews from the sub-contractor for the boring work were busy boring the new storm water line under the highway.  The technology of boring allows us to install critical infrastructure under other critical facilities without disruption to the existing facilities and operations, the cost is obviously more as well.  In this case boring under the highway was the best option.

Crews work on installing the first steps of the bored piping.

The boring crew installs this steel pipe as an auger in the middle digs out the path.  Once the steel pipe is in the hole they will push the steel pipe out with the concrete storm water piping that will facilitate the travel of storm water into the golf course ponds.

We will use the boring technology again on the project to go under the railroad tracks.  This bore should take place later this week.

Staff from Bolton & Menk were also on site late last week putting in place stakes for the project.  The stakes are all placed based on GPS positioning and provide critical information to the contractor including the location of their construction limits and where varying grades are located for the ponds and other features.

Engineering firm locating stakes for the project.

The weather for the week looks to be wet especially Tuesday and Wednesday which could cause a delay in the progress on the project.  Stay tuned for more updates on the project and the impact of the forecasted weather.

Mobilization and Start of Work

Well the contractor and their sub-contractors have started moving onsite to start work on the project.  The majority of the equipment and mobilization at this point will be concentrated in the southern portion of the project between the railroad tracks and Sunrise Pointe Golf Course where the initial work will begin.

Lundell Construction, project contractor,  unloads shoring equipment at the Sunrise Pointe Golf Course.

The work on the golf course is the priority work for the first phases of the project per the contract documents and so the majority of the work at least for the next month or so will be centered in this area.  The actual first work that will be done will be the two pipes that will be bored under existing structures, HWY 71/7 and the railroad overpass.  The boring company is mobilizing at this point as well.

Some additional utility work will occur before boring can begin under the railroad tracks.  Utility company crews along with Lundell Construction were busy this afternoon working on clearing ground for the moving of underground utility lines in anticipation of the bore next week.

A large excavator moves dirt in anticipation of utility work.

With the weather warming up and conditions improving the City will be looking to open up Sunrise Pointe Golf Course in the near future.  During these early months both golf activities and construction activities are going to have co-exist on the course at the same time.  Golfers should be alert to construction equipment active around holes one (1) and nine (9) and take extra precautions to ensure that they are safe while enjoying their round of golf.