Document text
Pipeline work could finish early By TONY BOOM Drivers on Highway 99 between Medford and Talent likely will see lane restrictions disappear by the end of August because a drinking water pipeline project is running ahead of schedule. The James W. Fowler Co. had placed more than 21,000 feet of the 28,000-foot total of 24-inch pipeline under the highway by Wednesday afternoon. The Talent-Ashland-Phoenix water intertie includes a main line from Medford to Talent and new million-gallon reservoirs in Talent and Phoenix. Ashland paid to have a larger line installed for later tie-in. "We're anticipating early completion," said John Fowler, president of the firm. The expected completion date is April 17, 2002, but Fowler said when work began in December 2000 that he expected to finish in about a year. Problems with an unstable rock slope above a new reservoir in Talent caused only slight delays in the project. "We have passed the worst portion of it, which was the city of Phoenix with a lot of existing utilities," said Mario Serra, resident engineer for Montgomery Watson of Portland, which designed the project. "We had to work around them." Serra foresees completion by late this year or early next year. Fowler brought in a large crane-like piece of equipment with a splitting device to deal with the Talent reservoir situation. It broke the rock into smaller pieces for removal, said John Morrison, community development manager of the Rogue Valley Council of Governments, which has coordinated the project. The reservoir was not damaged. Removing the unstable area cost $12,500, said Morrison. Earlier a Fowler foreman had estimated cost would be a couple thousand dollars. "Even though Fowler had to bring in equipment it didn't slow down the overall project," said Morrison. "The cost will lie with the city of Talent. We are still talking about who will pay. They might not pay the full amount." The $9 million project has an 8 percent contingency fund. Morrison said the project is on budget. A 16-inch water line will be buried under Bear Creek later this summer to tie into the new Phoenix reservoir. "We're waiting for the flow to die down a little bit," said Serra. "We don't have a schedule on when it would start." The installation will require a cut in the creek bed. Large concrete coffer dams will divert water during the project, blocking half the creek at a time. The Army Corps of Engineers and the Oregon State Division of Lands have granted permits to allow work in the creek. The state permit, granted to the city of Phoenix, allows work in the creek from June 15 to Sept. 15. Pressure-testing of the new line between valves showed one leak north of South Stage Road. Sound equipment was used to pinpoint the leak. "It's pretty rare to install as much pipe as we have without having more leaks," said Fowler. "For that crew to lay 20,000 feet with just one leak is pretty exceptional." After pressure tests and leak repair, LTM repaved the lane that had a temporary concrete patch as far south as Bolz Street in Phoenix. The rest of the patched lane will be paved over after the pipeline is completed and tested. Reach Ashland bureau reporter Tony Boom at 482-4651, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.