At the June 18 meeting of the Drumheller Town Council, the contractor for this year’s cast iron water main replacement project was decided. M. Pidherny’s Trucking Ltd. was awarded this year’s contract.
The contract has yet to be finalized, but it is hoped work will begin towards the end of July and will last roughly one month.
“The piece we intend to do is the alley by the Legion, across Centre Street to the alley behind the Napier Theatre, north down the alley to the Sizzling House,” said Allan Kendrick, director of Infrastructure Services.
The cast iron water main replacement program is a multi year project, scheduled to take five years. The goal of the project is to replace the aging cast iron pipes with newer lines to improve reliability and delivery of water, reduce the risk of emergency repairs, service interruptions, and improve hydrant flows downtown.
The area in question this year may prove difficult for crews. Underneath the alley is a web of different, intersecting utilities, including water, sewer, gas, and fibre optic cables.
It is hoped the work will not be as disruptive as last year.
“It shouldn’t be, but until the contractor is here and they start digging we won’t know for sure,” said Kendrick.
Last year, the cast iron replacement went longer than expected, after the contractor ran into some unforeseen difficulties.
“The other contractor ran into stuff we didn’t even know existed, like steam lines running from the Waldorf, under the alley, that heated other buildings,” said Kendrick.
During construction, affected businesses and residences will be fed by a temporary water supply. The work this year will also partially block access to the rear entrance of the Drumheller Fire Hall and behind the Drumheller RCMP detachment. Crews must maintain some access to each building.
The scope of this year’s cast iron water line replacement is smaller than what was originally intended. Council decided to remove a chunk of the project and delay the force main extension project until 2013. The complexity of this year’s work and some higher costs increased the price of the project beyond original estimates.
The removed work included a line running east from the alley behind the fire hall, across 1st Street East, and into the alley between 1st and 2nd Street East.
The total cost of this year’s work is $775,300.
“We had some logistics there that would have put it late into the fall. We thought the best approach would be to get the water done. It can be stalled for a year or two,” said Kendrick. “Construction costs weren’t that much over last year, but this project is complex with more utilities to work around. Any time you complicate the job it seems to bring the price up. Part of that increase was supplies. Asphalt and pipe went up.”
The cast iron water main replacement project will continue after this year. Next year it is hoped the alley running north-south behind the Legion and the cancelled work from this year.
“The line with the most concern is the Legion alley line. We’ve had numerous breaks over the years. We put some protection in, we’ve gained a little more time, but I remember working in that alley two Christmas Eves,” said Kendrick. “It gets really disruptive when you have [water line] break after break. That’s why council put this program in place for five years, to make sure we continued to replace these cast iron lines.”
