-Messenger photo by Bill Shea
The rebuilt intersection of First Avenue South and 15th Street awaited traffic Thursday afternoon.

By BILL SHEA

bshea@messengernews.net

Two busy intersections on the east side of downtown Fort Dodge were rebuilt last year, along with the heavily traveled section of 15th Street that joins them.

The junctures of Central Avenue and 15th Street and First Avenue South and 15th Street were far from the only places where construction was found in town. Aggressive work to improve sewers continued and the pond at Armstrong Park was reshaped in an effort to improve the quality of its water.

When the snow melts and construction crews can get to work this spring, more street and sewer jobs will be tackled.

And sometime this spring, the water coming out of faucets all across the city will be a little bit softer as reverse osmosis equipment installed at the John W. Pray Water Facility begins running.

Here’s a summary of what was accomplished in 2020.

Streets

The intersections of Central Avenue and 15th Street and First Avenue South and 15th Street were reconfigured to create turning lanes. South 15th Street between Central Avenue and First Avenue South was rebuilt to create three lanes of traffic. Additional repairs on First Avenue South, stretching all the way to Veterans Bridge, were included in the project.

The work began in the fall of 2019 and continued until the fall of 2020.

Castor Construction, of Fort Dodge, had a roughly $4 million contract for the work.

South 30th Street was rebuilt between Fifth and Seventh avenues south.

“That road was in dire need,” said City Engineer Tony Trotter.

He said the road was broken down by heavy traffic while nearby Eighth Avenue South was closed for complete reconstruction.

A culvert on North Seventh Street, north of the entrance to Loomis Park, was replaced with a new larger one to improve drainage in that area.

Sewer work

Through 2020, work continued, especially on the city’s south side, on a long project to improve sewers so that homes won’t be flooded during heavy rains.

“The point behind the Community Sewer Initiative was to eliminate basement backups and eliminate the need to pump out manholes,” Trotter said.

For decades, every time there was a heavy rain, city crews had to pump water out of sanitary sewer manholes in a sometimes futile effort to prevent basement backups. Thanks to sewer improvements completed since 2013, no manholes had to be pumped out last year and just one had to be pumped out in 2019. Historically, there were 19 locations that had to be pumped out.

During 2020, larger and deeper sanitary sewers were installed beneath 13th Avenue South between 26th and 29th streets.

Trotter said placing the sewers deeper underground helps to prevent wastewater from backing up into homes.

Larger and deeper sanitary sewers were also installed in the neighborhood surrounding Duncombe Elementary School.

Additionally, a new lift station that pumps sewage to the wastewater treatment plant was built near North 11th Street.

Water plant

In April, the reverse osmosis machinery at the John W. Pray Water Facility on Phinney Park Drive is expected to start up. When it does, the hardness of the city’s water will be reduced. However, it will not produce true soft water.

Trotter said residents will have to reprogram their water softeners so that they will use less salt.

The effort to reduce the hardness of the city’s water was prompted by a directive from the Iowa Department of Natural Resources to reduce the amount of chloride in treated wastewater discharged into the Des Moines River. There’s no way to effectively remove chloride from wastewater so reducing the amount of that substance getting to the wastewater treatment plant became the goal. It was obvious to engineers that the chlorides were coming from salt used in water softeners. They turned to the reverse osmosis process to cut down the need for that salt.

The process of building an addition to the water plant and installing the necessary equipment began in April 2019.

The project cost about $20 million.

Trotter said the work was heavily impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. He said some workers got sick and others had to quarantine. The delivery of needed supplies was delayed because they were manufactured in states that completely shut down at the height of the pandemic.

2021 projects

The debut of the osmosis system is far from the only project planned for the rest of this year.

There will be an annual street repaving project, and a resurfacing job on Country Club Drive using a new method. Trotter said the existing pavement there will be pulverized and fresh asphalt will be put down on top of it. He said its an ideal method to use on Country Club Drive because it will allow access to the homes there throughout the process.

Here’s what else is on tap:

• Completion of the sewer project near Duncombe Elementary School.

• Installation of new sewers under 10th Avenue North between 26th Street and the Union Pacific Railroad tracks.

• Reconstruction of 15th Avenue South.

• Installation of new storm sewers near 12th Street and Second Avenue South.

• Building a new water main loop around the city’s northwest side.

That new water main loop, consisting of 12-inch and 8-inch diameter pipes, will improve water pressure and sustainability in the area, Trotter said. Rasch Construction Inc., of Fort Dodge, was awarded a $1,970,666 contract for the job in December.