Sylvania has had a prolonged spring weather pattern with above average rainfall which has impacted our two largest construction projects at the US-23/Monroe interchange and downtown. The National Weather Service for the Toledo region has observed 11.34 inches of rain during the months of March, April and May, (through May 21) which was 2.69 inches over the normal anticipated amount. Over that same time frame our rain gauge at our Monroe Street Pumping Station next to Burger King has collected 15.4 inches of rainfall.
As uncooperative as Mother Nature has been, our contractors on both projects are keeping pace with their demanding construction schedules. Here is a construction update with work completed through the end of May on both projects.
US-23/Monroe Street Interchange
The southbound on-ramp to US-23 has been the primary focus since work started April 21. The ramp closed the weekend of April 25 thru April 27 to install concrete barriers and shift the ramps over to temporary pavement. Temporary pavement was also installed along southbound US-23. Motorists will continue to use these temporary pavements and stay in this maintenance of traffic pattern until October.
The wet weather has slowed progress on the new on-ramp bridge over the Ottawa River and the associated earthwork for the new ramp. The contractor, Millers Brothers, was flooded out for several days from a May 7 storm event that took out river bypass piping and kept drilled shaft working areas under water. The soggy conditions are also slowing down the movement and compaction of dirt needed for the ramp.
Miller Brothers has completed around 7 percent of the construction project to date and has moved over 16,000 cubic yards of dirt (equivalent to 1,050 dump trucks). Work will continue through August, building new bridge piers, abutment walls, and wingwalls with the goal of having the new deck poured in August. Looking ahead, work on the second bridge for the northbound off-ramp is scheduled to start after the 4th of July holiday. Also, the new Alexis Road U-turn and bump out area at the northwest corner of Alexis Road and Elliott Drive will be installed in June with work continuing through July.
Downtown Transportation Improvements (Phase 1)
Despite the wet weather, construction has continued to move forward. There have only been a handful of days where the weather has completely prevented the contractor from working.
This project is unique in that it has so many different disciplines of work (waterline, sanitary sewer, storm sewer, electrical, hardscapes, aesthetics, etc.). In most cases, if the weather challenges one discipline there’s always another one that can be worked on. As of the end of May the project is running around one week behind schedule.
The contractor, Helms and Sons, has completed around 10 percent of the construction project to date. The waterline has been fully installed and all new service connections provided to each property. Rehabilitation of the sanitary sewer service laterals has been a challenge at times with plan records not matching field conditions, but this is not uncommon on sewer systems over 100 years old. Only a few sanitary sewer service connections are left to be rehabilitated.
Looking ahead, the bulk of June will be spent installing half of the new underground storm sewer system and tearing out curbing and sidewalk on the east half of the street. East side of Main Street work will continue through the 4th of July holiday.