Work Has Started on the North Central Storm Water Project!

Work on the project began a couple weeks ago when workers cleared trees from an area to make room for dirt removed during the digging of regional ponds. The cleared area can be seen in the photo below.

Once full, this truck will carry dirt to the ditch shown above. Two trucks are running from the site to the waste area so that the excavator will not have to wait for one truck to make the entire trip.

This week, crews are excavating regional pond two. This area will serve as a detention pond for storm water, cleaning the water by allowing pollutants and silt to settle and preventing flooding by storing and slowing down the flow of storm water.

 The photo below shows the current size of the pond.

Construction to Begin

Construction on the project is about to get underway with the contractor expected to start mobilizing equipment within the next week or two.  The beginning phases of the work will center on the clearing and grubbing of areas where construction will take place including clearing of  trees in the areas where we will dispose of dirt.  The contractor will then move forward with the development of the large pond and the smaller pond structures in the railroad ROW area.

Throughout the construction process the contractor will be using heavy equipment to construct the project and with a number of children in the neighborhood the City would like to remind residents, especially parents, in the project area to talk to their children about staying away from the construction equipment and the construction site.

Pre-Construction Meeting and Project Start Date

The pre-construction meeting for the North Central Storm Water Project was held on June 24th. Contractors, engineers, city officials, and utility company representatives were all in attendance to ensure that everyone was informed about the project, allowing it to move forward smoothly.Work on the project is expected to start in the second week of July, will continue into next Spring, and will hopefully be wrapped up by the end of June, 2016.

At the meeting, the contractors laid out their plan for construction on the project. They will begin their work by developing regional ponds that will eventually hold excess storm water. This will be their main focus in the beginning of the project, along with seeding finished areas. Seeding will be done on areas of the project as they are completed so that as much of the project as possible will have the 60 day warm growing season required for the grass. Workers will also begin removing trees from construction easement areas. There are a few underground bores required for this project to run pipes under roads. Boring is expected to take place in late July or early August.

Also discussed at the meeting was the importance of preventing storm water pollution during this project. For all city construction projects, a Storm Water Pollution Prevention Plan (SWPPP) must be created by the contractor to ensure that no pollutants enter the water. In their SWPPP, the contractor must identify potential pollutants and describe how they will protect against pollution. Because the main purposes of this project are to control storm water and reduce erosion, an effective SWPPP is very important.