West Babbitt Development proceeds with lift station work, prepares for power installation As of last Tuesday, crews on the job at the West Babbitt Development had nearly completed the water main, with ongoing efforts proceeding on the lift station.
Babbitt Street Department director Tony Chamberlin told the city council at Tuesday’s regular meeting that things have progressed well, despite crews operating three to four days behind after the holiday weekend.
“I had a lot of goals of getting done before the holiday, but that was just to push the boys a little bit,”said David Mitchell of Rachel Contracting at the West Babbitt Development team meeting on Tuesday morning.
Mitchell said the crew drifted after the holiday with lift station work after running into challenges with rocks and water, while the force main was complete up to Manhole Two.
The team planned to flush the water main in the following days and complete their last of three trench compaction tests around the lift station.
The West Babbitt construction crew received approval at Tuesday evening’s council meeting to add eight hour work days from 6:30 am to 2:30 pm on Saturdays as necessary, beginning on July 18.
Chamberlin said that the request came from the surface crew, who were set to begin cutting on Thursday. The change will not cost the city any additional money.
“More than anything, it would just be a noise and/or dust control (consideration), but they have water out there to control the dust, and the noise hasn’t been an issue this far,” said clerk-treasurer Kirsten Traut.
Another upcoming challenge for the crew will involve coordination with Minnesota Power to install electrical utilities.
Unlike the rest of the city’s electricity, West Babbitt’s infrastructure will go underground. This could create complications for the paving team, should Minnesota Power operations encounter delays.
“We don’t want them ripping up our brand new pavement,” said John Green of Rachel Contracting.
The team discussed installing conduits under the road, in case MinnesotaPowerdoesnotcomplete the electrical work in advance of paving operations. This could tack on a minor added cost to the project, Green said.
A Minnesota Power designer is scheduled to come on-site in Babbitt for a pre-installation meeting toward the end of the month, possibly the week of the 20th or 27th.
Mitchell stressed the importance of notifying the team about the date of the visit in order to ensure power goes in on the most efficient timeline possible.
“I just don’t want to give them any reason for delaying anything,” said Jason Chopp of the project’s engineering firm, Short-Elliott Hendrickson.
Sidewalk concrete is scheduled to be poured toward the end of July, while the project’s progress chart maps road paving for the middle of August.
