Tough Rock will Require Blasting

The construction crew ran into unexpectedly hard rock at the tank site last week,so plans are being re-worked to use explosives to help excavate the bench for the new water tank. Garney has assembled the top-notch team of Yenter Construction to do the drilling and blasting under the guidance of Gordon Reavy.

By using modern methods for precise blasting, the effort must break hard rock while protecting the existing water tank some 20 feet away. The closest homes and other structures should not feel any movement. Town Staff will put notices up around town and will talk to neighbors. They will also have seismic consultant Sara Nation available for discussion and for documentation of existing conditions and actual blast results.

Schedule:

Week of 28June drilling on site

July 1 evening informational community meeting at ToHSS Town Hall with blasting consultant Sara Nation

July 5-7 blasting

Call Town Hall at 970-725-3933 for more information or contact Geoff Elliott at 970-509-0199

Work at the Water Tank Site

Garney has begun the heavy digging at the Water Tank Site including using a hydraulic rock pick to fracture the sandstone bedrock. Tough going! Will begin hauling excavated material through town soon.

Clear Well Progress

Preparation is almost complete for pouring the concrete lid to the Clear Well which will in turn form the floor for our new Water Treatment Plant. What looks like a plywood floor in the photo will hold the concrete then be removed from below after curing. Final plumbing and electrical connections through this stage will be complete and more concrete will arrive soon.

First Concrete Pour for our New Clear Well!

We completed the excavation and poured the first slab for our new clear well, which will be the tank underneath the new water treatment plant. The 20 X 10 foot slab in the photo is actually the floor for a sump. Weather permitting, we will begin to pour the walls.

Local engineering firms, TopKnot Engineering (civil engineers in Hot Sulphur Springs) and Kumar and Associates (geotechnical engineers in Fraser) are working with Garney Construction and Merrick Engineers to keep our project on track and within budget.

Material excavated from this area was transported by a local company, Harms Excavating over to Pioneer Park, where we are using the good fill material for park improvements. These improvements are being paid for with a Great Outdoors Colorado (GOCO) grant. It turns out that Pioneer Park was the closest disposal site to the water treatment plant, so our ARRA-GOCO coordination efforts continue to offer great cost benefits all around.

We have begun the 2010 construction season in earnest April 6 with the installation of “yard piping” between the new water intake vault and the existing water treatment plant which will be converted to a pre-treatment plant later this year.

The Garney crew is here in full force and will be working Monday-Thursday. Beginning Monday April 12, they will be excavating the clear well area which forms the foundation for the new water treatment plant. Excavated material will be hauled to Pioneer Park to improve camping sites and day use areas.

Construction begins at Both Sites

Construction for 2010 has begun at both the water treatment plant site and the water tank site. Work will be focused near the water treatment plant, until the water tank site dries out.

Construction to start March 15, 2010

Garney Construction’s Walt Sinclair was on the water-tank site the first week of March with Hot Sulphur Springs’ Jack Zielinski and Jim Kleeman and Bob Pfeiffer from Tim Shenk Land Surveying to look at winter access and planning locations. Sinclair will be back on site beginning March 15 with a track-excavator to perform some exploratory digging. The plan is to minimize the need for blasting rock at the tank site by excavating as much rock as possible.

Beginning April 5, a construction crew will begin more extensive excavation work at both the water tank site and water plant. Construction work will generally take place Monday through Friday between 6:30 a.m and 5 p.m.

Less explosive but as important, nonetheless, the financial/compliance team continues to hone our requisition process with the State of Colorado including new “jobs created” forms and guidance on “Buy American.” Water Project Program Manager Geoff Elliott recently visited Lisa Pine and Elisha Masters at the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment to review the submittal process.