Work on the Green Avenue Infrastructure Project will resume after a delay caused by a gas main break.
A natural gas main break on Aug. 19 resulted in 16 homes being evacuated and 580 without service, but it was restored by Aug. 22.
The delay pushed the estimated completion date of the Green Ave. project to late fall.
Kays Contracting started work for the Green Avenue Infrastructure Project the first week of August and has completed initial project setup and pre-excavations to locate key buried infrastructure, as well as watermain replacement and reconfiguration at the top of the Green Avenue hill.
Currently the contractor is replacing and/or reconfiguring watermains at the bottom of Green Ave., which is expected to be done by early September. Also, storm drainage and sanitary sewermain replacement on the hill section of Green Avenue is expected to be completed.
Concrete curbing and some sidewalk improvements are projected for completion in mid to late September, and road reconstruction (gravel and paving) in late September and early October.
A watermain break and road washout in November 2020 resulted in the closure of an 85-metre section of Green Ave.
The city then determined that the aging underground infrastructure, which included a six-inch watermain and sanitary sewer line, needed to be upgraded.
The section of road, however, needed to be fully excavated. The project could not be completed during the winter months and was planned for the summer and fall of 2021. The total cost of the project is $710,000.
FortisBC told the Times that the gas line break was caused by construction and reminded residents to call the BC-1 Call line before digging to obtain information on gas lines and prevent accidents from happening.
