October 5, 2022 |
Progress continues on the Spring Avenue water main replacement and street repaving project.
The town of Saratoga and representatives from Lewis and Lewis met again on Tuesday afternoon to discuss the progress being made on the Spring Avenue project.
After numerous delays, drilling should finally begin this week in the bore pit outside of Saratoga Town Hall. Coleman Construction, the boring company hired by Lewis and Lewis to tunnel beneath First Street, left the job late last month because Lewis and Lewis were having trouble keeping ground water from collecting in the pit. Coleman told the contractor they had other jobs to do and would try to get back sometime in October.
Josh Ward, from Lewis and Lewis, told the town that Coleman will return this Friday. If Coleman begins drilling Saturday, Ward said, they can complete most of the tunneling in one day. Because of noise restrictions, Coleman can’t bore on Sundays. They would spend that day removing debris from the bore hole. After more drilling next week, Ward said he is hopeful Coleman should be finished.
Pictured above: Spring Avenue bore pit. Photo by Bigfoot 99.
The town has asked Ward for a timeline of when each job would be done. Ward was unable to prepare a detailed schedule without knowing when, or if, the bore pit would be completed. Councilman Ron Hutchins criticized the previous plans Ward had created and asked if another, more detailed one, would be provided.
Ward told the town that his new schedule will offer a significantly more detailed time frame.
Paving was next on the agenda. Ward told the town his crew should begin laying asphalt on Second and Third Streets by next week. Teams are split between the Spring Avenue project and Shively Field. When work is complete at the airport, Ward can pull those men onto the Spring Ave project to speed things up.
The town expressed no concerns about safety at the meeting.
T-O Engineering estimates that Lewis and Lewis are 45 percent finished with the job. After so many delays, there is no chance work will be completed by the original date of October 15th.
