The machine was there to help demolish the so-called little dam in what is likely to be one of the most visible Fort Dodge infrastructure projects of 2019. The little dam and the Hydroelectric Dam will both be removed this year, ending years of debate over their future.

Also this year, busy sections of First Avenue South and 15th Street will be rebuilt, and the John W. Pray Water Facility will be expanded to add equipment that will reduce the hardness of the city’s drinking water.

The coming’s projects follow a variety of 2018 jobs that included the reconstruction of the busy intersection of First Avenue South and 29th Street.

Des Moines River dams

-Messenger photo by Hans Madsen
Crews from Rachel Contracting, of St. Michael, Minnesota, begin demolition work on the little dam south of the Kenyon Road Bridge on the Des Moines River on Jan. 25.

The so-called little dam and the Hydroelectric Dam are being torn out this year to improve the safety and environmental conditions on the Des Moines River. A 2016 master plan for the river called for their removal.

The demolition job was briefly put on hold in December 2018 when the State Historic Preservation Office raised objections. Those objections were resolved in a couple of weeks and in January the City Council hired Rachel Contracting Inc., of St. Michael, Minnesota, to do the work. The company is being paid $274,784 to remove the little dam and $1,186,302.86 to remove the Hydroelectric Dam.

Work on the little dam began on Jan. 25 and was expected to take a couple of weeks to finish.

Removal of the Hydroelectric Dam was expected to start after water levels in the river dropped.

First Avenue South and 15th Street

A major street job estimated to cost $3.4 million will rebuild sections of First Avenue South and 15th Street this year.

Improving the safety of the intersections of 15th Street and Central Avenue and 15th Street and First Avenue South is the major reason for the project, according to City Engineer Tony Trotter.

”Safety is the big driver,” he said.

When the project is done, both of those intersections will have a left-turn lane, a right-turn lane and a lane for traffic going straight ahead. Each intersection will also get new traffic signals.

As part of the project, 15th Street between Central Avenue and First Avenue South will be rebuilt.

First Avenue South between 14th and 15th streets will be repaved, and if bid prices come in low, may be completely rebuilt.

A center turning lane will be created on First Avenue South, east of 15th Street.

Trotter said he expects the City Council will award a contract for the project in March. The work should be done by late November, he said.

The city government has received two state grants to help pay for the work.

A $500,000 grant is for the work at First Avenue South and 15th Street, while a $370,000 award is for the work at Central Avenue and 15th Street. Both grants came from the state Department of Transportation’s Traffic Safety Improvement Program.

Water plant work

Faced with a state mandate to reduce the amount of chloride in treated wastewater discharged from the city’s wastewater treatment plant, local leaders are targeting the source of that substance. The chloride comes from salt used in water softeners, so new equipment is being added to the John W. Pray Water Facility on Phinney Park Drive to reduce the hardness of the city’s drinking water. If the water isn’t as hard, water softeners will run less and there will be less chloride in the water.

The city is going to build an addition to the north side of the water plant that will house reverse osmosis equipment that will reduce the water hardness.

The City Council will award a contract for the work in February, and the project is to be done by Nov. 1, 2020, according to Trotter.

Other projects planned for this year include the reconstruction of Eighth Avenue South between 25th and 32nd streets and the construction of a new sanitary sewer lift station near Williams Drive.

2018 projects

In the past year, the busy intersection of First Avenue South and 29th Street was rebuilt. Traffic was limited through the intersection from April through October as the work progressed.

The intersection was reconfigured to provide a left-turn lane, a lane for traffic going straight ahead and right-turn lane on all four sides. An 8-inch diameter water main and storm sewers ranging in size from 18-inches to 54-inches were installed.

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

The intersection project was one element of an ongoing initiative to improve the drainage on the east side of the city.

Other big projects of the past year were:

• Installing a large new storm sewer along 15th Avenue South between 24th Street and the eastern city limits.

• Asphalt paving of 25 blocks

• Construction of 24th Avenue North between Williams Drive and North 15th Street in the Williams Bend neighborhood

A couple projects started in 2018 will wrap up this year. They include the replacment of the North First Street Bridge and and the installation of new sanitary sewers, storm sewers and water mains near 22nd Street and 12th Avenue South.