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Making progress

Crews keep working as end nears for some big road projects

-Messenger photo by Hans Madsen
A worker sprays a setting agent on freshly poured concrete pavement on First Avenue South just west of 29th Street Friday afternoon.

For Fort Dodge drivers weary of barricades and road cones, there is a bit of welcome news: some of the high-profile road jobs in the city are winding down.

A major project at First Avenue South and 29th streets will probably be done within a month, and the annual asphalt paving work should be finished in about five weeks, according to engineers.

First Avenue South and 29th Street

In April, construction crews went to work near that busy intersection. Their task was two-fold: Install big new storm sewers to prevent street flooding and rebuild the intersection.

The new storm sewers range in size from 18 inches to 54 inches in diameter. An 8-inch diameter water main was also installed.

-Messenger photo by Hans Madsen
Framed by concrete-working tools, traffic moves through the partially completed intersection of First Avenue South and 29th Street Friday afternoon. Work in the area has been ongoing for most of the summer.

The intersection is being rebuilt to provide a left turn lane, a lane for traffic going straight ahead and a right turn lane on every side.

Wicks Construction, of Decorah, has a $2,649,867.10 contract for the job.

Portions of First Avenue South and 29th Street have been closed throughout the spring and summer.

City Engineer Tony Trotter said Friday that all of the new storm sewers and the new water main are in place. He added that the paving is 90 percent complete. The remaining paving should be done by the end of this month, he said.

After the paving is done, the contractor will work on driveways, sidewalks, traffic signals and street lights.

-Messenger photo by Hans Madsen
A worker drives a skid loader through a work area at First Avenue South and 29th Street Friday afternoon.

Everything should be done by the end of September, according to Trotter.

He said the project is ”a little bit ahead of schedule.”

”Overall, it’s been going pretty well out there,” he said.

Fifth Avenue South/Kenyon Road

Throughout the spring and summer, a concrete patch repair job has been underway on parts of Kenyon Road and Fifth Avenue South.

-Messenger photo by Hans Madsen
With the eastbound side of the road closed for construction work, both directions of traffic have to share the westbound lanes on Fifth Avenue South by the former Fair Oaks Middle School.

Trotter said that all the repairs between UnityPoint Health — Trinity Regional Medical Center and 12th Street are done.

He said that the section of Fifth Avenue South between 12th and 15th streets is the next one to be addressed. He said the eastbound lanes of Fifth Avenue South will be closed beginning next week.

Castor Construction, of Fort Dodge, has a $442,793 contract for the work.

2018 paving project

Parts of 11 city streets are receiving a fresh coating of asphalt this year.

Fort Dodge Asphalt Co. has a $1,182,036.17 contract for the repaving.

Trotter said the repaving is more than 70 percent complete.

”We’re looking good to get that done in the next four to five weeks,” he said.

12th Avenue South sanitary sewer

This is perhaps the one project that will not be completed this year.

A new sanitary sewer is being installed beneath 12th Avenue South between 18th and 23rd streets.

Trotter said the sewer has been installed between 18th and 22nd streets. However, because of other construction projects underway, it was decided that the intersection of 22nd Street and 12th Avenue South would not be dug up this year.

Trotter said the project will resume next year at that intersection. The new sanitary sewer will then be extended one block east to 23rd Street and down 23rd Street to 13th Avenue South.

People who live along 12th Avenue South between 18th and 22nd streets are likely to notice that the construction work there really doesn’t look finished. That’s because it isn’t, according to Trotter.

He said crews will put down two coats of asphalt on 12th Avenue South after Labor Day, but will not put the third and final coat on until next year. Trotter said deep sanitary sewers tend to settle in the soil, and waiting to put the last layer of asphalt on will allow that settling to occur while minimizing uneven spots in the pavement, especially around manholes.

Crow River Construction, of New London, Minnesota, has a $3,369,489.30 contract for the job.

15th Avenue South storm sewer

This project includes a 66-inch diameter storm sewer and what Trotter called an ”energy dissipating structure” on the edge of Gypsum Creek that’s intended to reduce erosion of the creek’s banks.

The work got started late in the construction season, he said, but is on track to be done in mid-November.

Rasch Construction Inc., of Fort Dodge, has a $1,372,327 contract for the work.

North First Street Bridge

The 93-year-old bridge that carries North First Street over Soldier Creek is being replaced in a project that started this week. Trotter said the job will be finished this winter.

The bridge is 800 feet north of Central Avenue. It was built in 1925 and now has many problems.

Christensen Brothers Inc., of Cherokee, has a $1,023,647.05 contract to do the work. The city has received about $1 million from the state Department of Transportation to help pay for the job.

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