Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Heavy equipment vehicles line Lake Avenue in Ironwood on Saturday in preparation for work to start soon on a complete sewer and water system replacement that will include rebuilding the street, curbs and sidewalks. The Lake Avenue project will be the largest of eight sewer and water related projects in Ironwood this summer.
By TOM LAVENTURE
Ironwood - The first of several major summer sewer and water projects are underway in Ironwood.
Contractors with Jake's Excavation started setting up heavy equipment along Lake Avenue on Saturday. At the same time, engineers with Coleman Engineering and technicians with Xcel Energy, Inc., were surveying and marking underground utilities to aid the workers in avoiding contact while digging.
The city of Ironwood awarded Jake's Excavation the bid to conduct seven projects for $1.49 million over the summer, and an additional $176,000 bid was awarded to conduct an alternate project, according to previous reports to the Ironwood City Commission.
The largest project will be to replace 1,400 feet of water and sewer main on Lake Avenue from Curry Street to Lake Street. The work will include a complete rebuild of the street, sidewalks, curbing and gutters.
Around 2,400 feet of sanitary sewer mains will be relined over four blocks of downtown Ironwood. The pipe rehabilitation will not require digging and will be of minimal disruption.
A one-block section of water and sewer main will be replaced along West Pewabic Street from Lawrence to Hemlock streets. Around 1,000 feet of water main will be replaced along Van Buskirk Road near Norrie Park Road.
A storm sewer will be replaced at a couple of intersections on Bonnie Street near Ayer Street and Old County Road. Another project that was made possible with the low bid amount will be a one-block complete reconstruction of sewer, water and roadway on Chestnut Street.
Other work will aim to eliminate stagnant flow areas in the water mains along Lake Street between Celia and Garvey streets.
In addition, there are 25 sanitary manholes that will be relined to control inflow problems as a temporary solution until those neighborhoods undergo water and sewer projects.
The Ironwood City Commission unanimously approved the projects that will use $756,000 from the city water fund, $1.2 million from the city sewer fund, and approximately $50,000 from the city street fund.
