The Finish Line!

The project is complete and we couldn’t be happier with the result! All that remains is punch list items, and those are usually inside the sewer structures, so as far as the eye can see, we have crossed the finish line. The landscaping contractor still may have a couple of waterings remaining, but this rain and cool weather has been very good for the new sod. Just a reminder to residents: you should still wait a little while longer before mowing the new sod. It helps the sod take root if the grass isn’t too short.

To those residents that had brick or stone driveways, you are free to re-install those now. As stated in letters and notices that were sent before the project began, any brick/stone work is the responsibility of the resident.

Residents: Please keep your eyes out for a survey from the Village. The Village really appreciates any responses/comments you may have to better improve future year projects. Thanks for all your cooperation throughout the work.

Paving Has Begun!

The contractor was out on Saturday to prime the street. The prime is a sticky tack-coat that goes on the binder level of asphalt to create a bond between it and the new surface asphalt. I was onsite and things went very smoothly, thanks to the residents for their cooperation!

The surface asphalt placement began this morning. Swainwood Cul-de-sac, Buttonwood, and a little bit of Alvin were paved by noon. Unfortunately, there were some problems at the asphalt plant, and Peter Baker (the asphalt paver) had to leave for the day. But not to worry, they'll be back tomorrow (praying there is no rain) to complete the job!

Driveways will be cleaned up and prepped for asphalt starting on Wednesday.

Landscape restoration continues. Once the asphalt is complete, the landscapers will be able to finish their prep work and then install the sod.

Now that the binder level of asphalt is complete, there are several things that need to be done before surface can be placed. Some things have all ready begun; as many drivers may have noticed, the frames of the structures have been broken out, meaning the binder asphalt was opened up so that the frame of the structure can be placed at the correct elevation. The parkway restoration will begin, starting with the clearing and smoothing out of the areas that will get restored, and then topsoil will be placed. The sod will not be placed until AFTER the surface asphalt has been installed.

More Paving Pictures

PAVING IN PROGRESS

The roadway preparation was right on schedule and will be completed by the end of today. Paving will commence mid-next week!! Driveways will not be done with the mainline asphalt; they will get binder the follwing week and then be surfaced with the road.

Pavement Removal

The contractor began removing the pavement on Monday. Access to driveways will be left open for the most part; there will be limited access for about 10 minutes at each driveway as the pavement is being removed directly in front of each of them. The contractor removes the pavement and smooths the surface as they’re going, and then comes back and compacts it before the end of the day. Pavement removal should go through the rest of this week.

Once the pavement has been removed, the three small areas that get curb will be done. These areas are around the two islands in the Swainwood Cul-De-Sac and at the very north end (dead end) of Alvin Court.

Next week, the roadway will be prepared for asphalt paving. The duration of this process depends on the strength of the existing stone base of the road. If the existing base is without any weak areas, the grading should take about a week. If some of the existing base needs to be removed and replaced with new stone, the process will take longer.

AFTER all this is done, the binder course (bottom layer) of asphalt can be placed. Due to the amount of roadway we are paving, this process could take a few days. Weather permitting and existing stone base preparation duration, the contractor plans to be paving in the third week of August!

Once the asphalt has been placed, a few things need to take place. A “Leak Detection Test” is performed on all the residential water services to ensure there are no leaks. The lining project (under a different contract) will most likely be taking place. Landscaping will also begin after the asphalt binder is placed (not necessarily immediately after, but should take place in September). The contract states for all disturbed areas to be replaced with topsoil and sod.

I’ve had a couple of residents ask me if the contractor will pave their entire driveway up to the garage. Hoffman Excavating (the general contractor) and the asphalt subcontractor do not do private work. If a resident is interested in replacing his driveway, he would need to do that on his own.

Storm Sewer

An example of a new inlet with a connection to the existing main.

Lining Project

The relining of the existing sanitary and storm sewers is getting done as a part of another project; the general contractor is Insituform Technologies. This work might commence this week with the cleaning of the sewers. While the actual lining process is taking place, Insituform will ask residents to limit their water usage by limiting the use of the toilet and refraining from doing laundry. Insituform will notify residents when this needs to be done.

The sewer lines are rehabilitated by a resin-saturated felt tube that hardens into a strong "pipe within a pipe". A chemical called styrene is used in the resin and can emit a strong odor that smells like new plastic. It is possible that residents may notice this odor as work is being done. Insituform first suggests that residents close all toilet lids. If the odor is present in a resident's house, Insituform suggests ventilating the house by opening windows and doors. The release of styrene during the typical sewer rehabilitation process does not pose a significant risk to human health or the surrounding environment. However, exposure to high concentrations of styrene should be avoided.

The underground work is ALMOST complete. There is one more storm sewer spot repair to complete on the north end of Buttonwood, but that cannot be done until a utility conflict is resolved. This will not delay any of the other work in any way.

Beginning this week, weather permitting, the contractor will start cleaning up and preparing for the roadway portion of the work, which will include driveway apron saw cutting and repairs, curb installation around the designated islands and then pavement removal. Once the pavement is removed the testing of the road base will be done and then the first course of asphalt will be installed. Access to driveways will still be available although there may be short delays during the pavement removal process.

All water main work has been completed. The main is in and connected to any existing mains that are at the ends of the projects, all house services have been connected, and old fire hydrants have been removed.

The contractor is installing the final sanitary manhole today and then continuing with storm sewer installation. Storm sewer installation will continue next week as well. Pavement removal will not begin until all underground work has been completed.

Water services have been completed! The contractor is currently tying the new water main into the existing water main at each end of the project. Once this is complete, the old water main that runs through the project will no longer be in use. These connections should be completed (weather permitting) on Monday. This work does affect some residents; they are being notified of any shut downs. The new water main (on which all residents are now connected) needs to be turned off during the connection, hence the shut down.

Sanitary repairs have also been completed! The second crew has started on storm sewer repairs and installation. Many of the existing storm structures onsite are being removed and replaced, and then reconnected into the main. Any existing structure that is not being removed and replaced is still being reconnected to the main. Some spots along the main will be repaired, but there aren't many of those. There is also some new storm sewer going in throughout the project, which includes new inlets and catch basins which will be tied into the existing storm sewer. This work should take a couple weeks. Once it is complete, the pavement removal will begin, scheduled for late July/early August.

Water Service Installation

Lenny Hoffman Exc., Inc. has two crews onsite, one installing water services and the other crew continuing with sanitary repairs and replacements. The water service work is currently being done with trenchless technology allowing the Contractor to bore a hole under the road and eliminate the need for road closures. However, the Contractor has been having some difficulties with this work and it may be necessary to begin installing the water services by open cutting the pavement. If this is needed the Contractor will allow thru traffic, but minor delays may be seen.

Sanitary Spot Repairs

The crew that has been on site since the beginning will continue performing spot repairs on the sanitary sewer. This may take another couple of weeks, and then they will begin storm sewer work. There are several spot repairs on the storm like on the sanitary, but there is also some new storm being installed throughout the project. Mostly the work adds a few new inlets along the edge of pavement line to help with drainage.

Water Main Test and Chlorination are Good!

The water main chlorination was completed Wednesday and all samples came back satisfactory. Beginning Tuesday, June 23, Hoffman will be sending a second crew out to install water services. This will involve turning off the water to each house as the work is being done. The crew will knock on doors to allow adequate time for the resident before turning the water off for 30 minutes to an hour.

Example of sanitary sewer spot repair

See the previous post for an explanation.

The water main passed the pressure test; the water main will be chlorinated on Monday. This is a several day process, but once everything is clean, water services will begin to be installed.

In the meantime, the contractor has started working on spot repairs on the sanitary and storm sewers. All manholes are either being completely replaced or epoxy coated. Epoxy coating is a strong adhesive that is "painted" onto the interior of the structure. This is used in areas where it is not very feasible to remove the entire structure, i.e. near a large tree, in a spot with multiple utilities, etc. There are also spot repairs in which lengths of the main line of the sewer are replaced. In the case where a service comes into the main line while they are repairing the sanitary sewer, the service will be repaired from the main to the property line and a clean out will be installed at the property line. A clean out gives the ability to rod a resident's service should it become blocked.

Installation of water main (main line) complete!

The main line of water main is now complete! The contractor has begun installing fire hydrants. There are 12 new fire hydrants going in. Once the new water main is connected and in use, the old hydrants will be removed.

The contractor plans to test and clean the water main beginning next week. A pressure test is when the newly installed water main is filled with water to a pressure of 150 psi (pounds per square inch). The water main needs to hold that pressure for 2 hours. If the pressure were to drop, that could signal a leak. Leaks are nothing to worry about in this stage because the water main has not been connected yet, so they're easy to fix. After the pressure test, a water main is chlorinated to get it nice and clean. Then it is tested (to make sure there's not chlorine remaining in the system), and flushed numerous times. Once the main has been tested and chlorinated, services will begin to be installed. These will involve a shut-off to each house for a short amount of time. Everyone will be notified when this will happen. Once that is complete, the water main will get connected at all ends to complete the loop.

INTERSECTION AT SWAINWOOD AND ALVIN WILL BE CLOSED TOMORROW

Tomorrow, May 21^st, the intersection of Swainwood and Alvin will be closed starting at about 9:00 AM. There is a water main vault and a deep connection going in that will necessitate taking up the entire intersection. Please plan accordingly throughout the day and take an alternate route. Residents that live on Alvin Court, north of Swainwood WILL be able to get in and out of the court via Swainwood to the east. Please allow a couple extra minutes.

Water Main Installation Continues

Water main installation continues along Swainwood Road. The contractor is very close to being done with the mainline on Swainwood. They will then move to the arterial streets (Pinehurst, Buttonwood, Alvin, Swainwood Cul-de-sac) and install mainline along them.

Thanks to everyone for their patience and cooperation with the construction and having to go around a different route than planned. The contractor has been doing a very good job of getting school buses through the construction zone, and we don’t foresee any issues with that.

Water Main Installation

Lenny Hoffman Excavating began installing 8” water main on Tuesday, May 5^th. They began at the intersecting of Spruce and Swainwood and have proceeded north. Residents may have noticed the shut down went slightly longer than planned, but everything went smoothly. The water main was connected to the existing water main on Spruce that was installed in 2007. The crew will install the main line of our new water main the entire length, while keeping the existing water main in service. Most water mains are on what is called a “loop” meaning that it obtains water from both sides. By attaching our new water main to the main on Spruce, once the entire new line is placed, it can be turned on while the old line is still in service from the Roosevelt end. The crew will then go back and start putting in the new service pipe to each house. That will involve a water shut off to each house, but only for a short time. Then, once everyone has their new service (will all new 1-1/2” Copper Pipe) the old main will get turned off, and the new main will be looped, making a complete circle. But this all happens over a period of several weeks.

You may see many “Road Closed to Through Traffic Signs” on either side of the crew. We ask that you please do the best you can to travel around the construction. Residents of course are permitted to get to their houses if right in the middle of things, but if you’re able to park on the street for awhile it would be appreciated! That way you’re not slowed down by the construction. If you do need to get around the trucks and equipment, please allow a couple extra minutes. The crew will be notifying residents on the side of the road that we’re working on when that resident’s driveway will be out of commission. Thanks for your understanding and cooperation!

Before Photo

Construction Schedule

Due to all the rain we've been having lately, the contractor is starting slightly later than they had hoped. If you haven't noticed yet, there are some white paint lines along the roads. This is approximately where the new water main is going to be located. On Monday, the contractor will be bringing out a little "pavement zipper" which will loosen up the pavement right where we want the water main to go. Then they should start pipe installation on Tuesday!