IMAGE COURTESY CITY OF MEDICINE HAT A map showing the construction area along First Street SW.
gslade@medicinehatnews.com@MHNGillianSlade
The city says access to First Street SW will be reduced as work on the water and sanitary sewer moves west from the beginning of next week.
From Monday there will only be local access to a section of First Street SW for about seven weeks. This affects west of First Avenue to about 100 metres west of Second Avenue at Chinook Drive. The duration of the work could be impacted by the weather.
Traffic heading east on First Street SW will be detoured around the area either on Chinook Drive or Red Deer Drive.
This upgrade project includes replacement of water and sanitary sewer mains, replacement of damaged storm sewer catch basins, replacement of concrete curb and gutters where required, improvement of pedestrian sidewalks and rehabilitation of pavement surfaces.
The sanitary sewer is about five metres deep and the water pipes about three metres deep, however the further west the crews work the sanitary pipes are shallower, said construction superintendent Cody Hyam of the environmental utilities department.
All pipe work replacement has been necessary due to the age of the pipes and also “settlement”of them in certain places, said Hyam.
While the city is planning to use cured in-place-pipes (CIPP) for some projects, this would not have been appropriate on First Street. CIPP means pulling a lining through the inside of existing pipes. This lining then hardens and avoids having to dig up roads for new pipes.
Hyam says there are a number of areas where sections would have required repairs and digging regardless. Also the water pipes are small diameter 100 year-old cast-iron that needed to be replaced with a larger diameter.
The city’s goal is to have the construction complete this fall.
The city thanks everyone for their patience and understanding as the project has progressed over the past few months, said Hyam.
