Africa Road Sanitary Sewer Delays
The original plans to install sanitary sewers on Africa Road from County Line Road to East of Africa were delayed by weather and unexpected obstacles discovered beneath the roadway surface.
The main challenge was discovering glacial till 20 feet below County Line Road, where the new sewer connected to an existing line installed when the road was built two decades ago. The porous fine gravel till needed fortification before installing a large manhole and the connecting pipes, which took several additional days to pump the hole clear of water and harden the glacial till.
Current Location
The announced completion time frame expected the roadwork to be completed last Friday. The first set of delays kept the roadway closed for at least another week, but more unexpected problems slowed progress in installing the sanitary sewer.
Heavy rains have soaked the ground beneath the road, making the installation of trench shields, which are shown at the far right in the photo above, more difficult. The shields are required to prevent wall collapse.
During construction near the property line of Yarnell Farm, the contractor found an unused set of four cable conduits, as well as the anticipated placement for four active conduits, alongside a water line for The Landings, a nursing care facility. The presence of soft, waterlogged soil and the inability to install trench shields led to collapsing walls and flooding. As a result, two pumps were necessary to clear the water from the excavation, and additional work was required to stabilize the erosion beneath the roadway.
The project is about halfway completed, almost two weeks after its original completion date of April 28. The current location is noted in the above graphic.
Crash Causes Towns on the Greenway Power Loss
A Westerville Electric Division linesman surveys damage to a power pole and conduit leading to an underground service line after a car crash on North West Street on Wednesday evening damaged both.
North West Street was closed, and vehicles from the south were routed through Towns on the Greenway, the townhouse development whose power was lost because of the crash.
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