Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Construction Alert No. 27
Pioneer Way Reconstruction Project

November 30, 2011

Construction Resumes on Pioneer Way

While their completion schedule is unpredictable due to the weather, it was encouraging to welcome Strider Construction back into town yesterday morning. With the forecast this week looking quite promising, we are hopeful that good progress can be made on the unfinished section between Ireland and Ilwaco Streets. Regrettably, there will be periodic street closures east of Hathaway but the street will always be open late afternoons and evenings, and of course on weekends. Strider is aware of the tree lighting and other festivities on Saturday and will work to make the site as safe and neat as possible.

Here is what we know at the moment about the sequence of work:

● Starting yesterday and continuing for the remainder of the week, the Strider crew will be bringing the road and curb areas to the grade needed to finish building the street. Some work will also be occurring in the sidewalk and planter areas to remove excess dirt and raise utility vaults to the required height.

● Weather permitting, curbs and gutters will be formed and poured next week. Unlike the earlier phases of the project, paving will happen before sidewalks and as soon as possible after the curbs and gutters are in place.

● Once the new asphalt is in place, Strider will complete preparation of the sidewalk areas before bringing the concrete subcontractor back to pour the sidewalks. Successful concrete work is highly dependent on favorable weather conditions so predicting the timing for this part of the job is the most problematic.

● Completion of the last section of handrail, adding topsoil and landscaping in the pots and planters and placing street amenities (benches, garbage cans, bike racks, street lights, etc.) will be scheduled once the sidewalks are installed.

Remaining Archaeological Work

While the vast majority of the Pioneer Way archaeological work has been completed, there are two tasks remaining besides the ongoing monitoring during construction. These tasks are described below:

● A relatively small triangle of hand excavation work is necessary directly in front of the Oak Harbor Tavern to complete the curve into the Ilwaco alley. This area could not be excavated inside the original fenced enclosure for the simple reason that it was underneath or just outside the fence. This work should be completed by Friday of this week.

● The top 4 inches of soil from a short section of the southern sidewalk area must be excavated by hand due to the proximity of known cultural resources.

Key City Contact People
Larry Cort
Project Manager
360 914-7107
lcort@oakharbor.org

Joe Stowell
Project Engineer
360 279-4520
jstowell@oakharbor.org

Rhonda Severns
City Utilities
360 914-7256
rhseverns@oakharbor.org

Monday, November 21, 2011

Project Alert No. 26
Pioneer Way Reconstruction Project

November 21, 2011

Archaeologists Return Tomorrow for One Day of Testing

Tomorrow (Tuesday), a small team of archaeologists from Northwest Archaeological Associates will be back on Pioneer Way for additional testing on the north half of the street between Ireland and Ilwaco Streets. The purpose of the testing is to determine whether or not additional cultural materials might be present in the top 0-6 inches of soil where the sidewalks will be installed. Some soil needs to be removed in order to pour the sidewalks. Most of the testing will be concentrated near the Ireland and Ilwaco intersections and should take no more than one day to complete. There will be a short lane closure of about one hour at the Ireland Street intersection starting around 8:00 am.

Should additional human remains or other cultural materials be uncovered during the testing, it is likely that those specific areas will have to be hand excavated and screened by the archaeologists. We should know very soon how much, if any, hand excavation will be needed.

As a reminder, Strider Construction is scheduled to return to work on Pioneer Way during the week following the Thanksgiving holiday.

Key City Contact People
Larry Cort
Project Manager
360 914-7107
lcort@oakharbor.org

Joe Stowell
Project Engineer
360 279-4520
jstowell@oakharbor.org

Rhonda Severns
City Utilities
360 914-7256
rhseverns@oakharbor.org

Wednesday, November 9, 2011

Construction Alert No. 25
Pioneer Way Reconstruction Project

November 8, 2011

Fencing Removed Between Ilwaco and Ireland Streets

Based on the number of smiles on the street this afternoon, it is safe to say that there is plenty of relief along Pioneer Way that the barrier fencing around the archaeological site has finally come down. City Public Works crews completed construction this morning on the temporary driving surface along the southern half of the street and, as can be seen in the photograph below, it has been opened to traffic. A big thanks to the crew for making short work of the transition from archaeological dig to functional street!



As noted last week, a design change for the northern half is nearing readiness that will eliminate the need for any additional excavation in the parking area on the north side. While some testing will still be required in sidewalk areas, in the transitions at the bottom of Ireland and Ilwaco Streets, and in other locations where conduit is still needed, there should be no need to re-install fencing on the north side. Strider Construction is still scheduled to return to complete the street following the Thanksgiving holiday.

Key City Contact People



These are your go-to City staff for issues connected to the construction project:

Larry Cort
Project Manager
360 914-7107
lcort@oakharbor.org



Joe Stowell
Project Engineer
360 279-4520
jstowell@oakharbor.org



Rhonda Severns
City Utilities
360 914-7256
rhseverns@oakharbor.org


Friday, November 4, 2011

Construction Alert No. 24

November 4, 2011

Pioneer Way Archaeological Work Winds Down

Today (Friday), Northwest Archaeological Associates will wrap up work within the main excavation and recovery area between Ilwaco and Ireland Streets that has been fenced and screened since late June. In bringing what will be the new street down to the required grade, the archaeologists have recovered all exposed cultural materials and removed them for temporary storage in preparation for re-burial at a later date.

On Monday morning, the City crew will move into the site and lay geotextile fabric over the excavated area, followed immediately by gravel spread over the fabric to form the base of the new street. The gravel will then be compacted and leveled for use by vehicles (it will not be paved until later). Once the southern lane is ready for travel (likely late that same day or Tuesday), the fencing will be removed and the traffic re-routed from the north lane to the south lane.

Looking ahead, the original plan called for moving the archaeological crews to the northern half of the street once the southern half could be used for traffic. City staff have been working on a possible design change for the northern half that would, if successful, eliminate the need for any additional excavation in the parking area planned for the north side. If we are successful with this change, the remaining archaeological work would be limited to shallow testing in sidewalk areas and other locations where conduit is still needed, relatively minor excavation in transitional areas at the foot of Ireland and Ilwaco Streets, and monitoring during trenching.

Strider Construction will return to finish building the street following completion of the final archaeological testing and excavation – tentatively right after Thanksgiving. Obviously, weather has become the biggest factor in determining the pace of final completion.

As always, please give us a shout if you have questions.

Key City Contact People

Larry Cort
Project Manager
360 914-7107
lcort@oakharbor.org

Joe Stowell
Project Engineer
360 279-4520
jstowell@oakharbor.org

Rhonda Severns
City Utilities
360 914-7256
rhseverns@oakharbor.org