Africa Road Sewer Install Slows
The installation of underground sewer lines on Africa Road is moving at a glacial pace.
When the contractor dug 20 feet down to install the pipes, it encountered sandy remnants of the Late Wisconsian glacier. The less-dense soil at that depth makes the pipes' platform less stable, requiring additional materials and time to ensure the pipe is set into a firm platform.
An inspector at the site noted that the unstable ground becomes less of a problem as the work continues up the slight incline to the point where the new pipe ends at the edge of the 88-acre East of Africa project.
A twenty-foot-deep boring done in January 2023 shows the fine-particle glacial till deposited by the glacier less than 100 feet from Africa Road at the southern edge of the project as it melted and deposited rocks and soil along the glacier’s perimeter.
Wisconsin Glacier in Westerville
Over the past 2.6 million years, nearly three-quarters of Ohio has been repeatedly covered by glaciers during the Pleistocene Epoch, often called the Ice Age. These glaciers, formed in Canada, moved south under their own weight, reaching as far as northern Kentucky. More than a dozen major glaciations occurred, but the most recent—the Wisconsinan and Illinoian—left the clearest marks on the Ohio landscape.
Westerville sits on a ground moraine created by the melting Wisconsin glacier, bordering Alum Creek and Big Walnut Creek. A moraine is a landform composed of debris, primarily rock and sediment. Several nearby ridge moraines help define the city's geology. Glacial kames, mounds or hills of sediment formed by glacial meltwater, are evident along the shoreline of both creeks, especially at low water levels on Hoover Reservoir, where continued erosion has revealed a collection of different-sized boulders, rocks, clay, dirt, and layers of slate. These deposits shaped much of Westerville’s topography between 14,000 and 24,000 years ago.
Alum Creek drains into Big Walnut Creek near Groveport, which in turn flows into the Scioto River. The Scioto River eventually empties into the Ohio River, the Mississippi River, and, ultimately, the Gulf of Mexico.
Because the Wisconsin deposits are relatively young, they remain well preserved across much of Ohio’s surface, allowing geologists to reconstruct the glacial history in more detail.
When Africa Road will reopen is subject to what is encountered as the pipeline installation continues. It was initially scheduled to open next Monday, but it may be delayed depending on what glacial discoveries are made as the installation continues.
West Main Closed Again
Contractors are installing street light utility poles on the west side of the Main Street Bridge over I-270, which is one of the final steps in reopening the roadway after building a new bike path connecting Columbus to Sharon Woods Metro Park.
The road west of Westerville is being rebuilt to accommodate the bike path with an opening in mid-May.
Birmingham’s New Curbs
Birmingham Road is getting a complete restoration, starting with new curbs and gutters and milling the road surface to the original gravel underlayer built in the early 1960s. Local traffic is maintained, but through traffic is detoured. The project is expected to be completed by mid-June.
The Green Grape Report
Food Review by Gary Gardiner
With the median price of grapes at $2.39 a pound, it became apparent that choosing the best-tasting variety would require buying small quantities at every Westerville grocery store to determine where my fresh fruit money should go.
Buying small quantities, less than a pound, requires rearranging stems of my favorite fruit into other bags to reach my weight limit. Typically, a single stem of green grapes can weigh about a pound. Choose wisely.
All of this week’s grapes came from Chile or Peru, with the outlier being from Mexico and sold at Aldi.
Chile and Peru are at the end of their summer harvest season. As the South American supply disappears, more grapes will be expected from Mexico and California.
All the grapes were sweet, firm, and clear of visible flaws. The PLUs were the standard with no numerical indication of an obscure or artisanal variety.
This week’s sweetest and crispest grape came from Walmart, with Fresh Thyme and Aldi a close second.
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