Photo courtesy City of AustinConstruction of the Martin Hill water main project near McNeil High School will not be finished until March because of delays. The project will add 3.5 miles of 54-inch pipe.
Construction of the Martin Hill water main project near McNeil High School in Northwest Austin will not wrap up until March because of a series of delays.
Originally the city had wanted to finish construction in front of McNeil High School prior to the start of the 2014–15 school year. The project kicked off in September 2013.
"We knew the boring operations would last until the early months of 2015, but we had hoped to be [done] in front of the school," said Keri Burchard-Juarez, assistant director of the city's Public Works Department.
The project will add 3.5 miles of 54-inch water lines from the intersection of Parmer Lane and McNeil Drive to the Martin Hill Reservoir, a 34-million-gallon reservoir located near Loop 1 and Shoreline Drive. It will also add a dual water connection to the school. The water lines are needed to improve capacity, connectivity and reliability of water service to North and Northwest Austin.
On Sept. 23 crews were tunneling near Parmer and McNeil when the contractor's machine broke, and efforts to repair the machine onsite were unsuccessful, according to the city. The machine had to be rebuilt, causing a six-week delay.
In August crews encountered a delay upon the discovery of caves. The city had to take environmental mitigation measures before continuing the project, such as filling caves with gravel or concrete and encasing pipes in concrete to prevent potable water from entering caves, Burchard-Juarez said.
"The project's engineering consultant has a professional geologist on site every day that trenching is occurring in order to observe conditions," she said. "If a void, or cave, is discovered he or she completes an observation report and determines an appropriate mitigation method. This report is then submitted to [the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality] for review and approval."
Construction has created traffic issues to and from McNeil High School with the reduction of lanes. By Nov. 3, major portions of McNeil Drive, including a turn lane in front of the school, will be open to four lanes. Traffic lanes between Parmer and the school's western driveway will remain reduced until completion of the project. Crews are boring underneath Parmer so traffic lanes on that road will not be affected, Burchard-Juarez said.
"We have and entry and exit bore pit on either side at McNeil and Parmer," she said. "That bore pit is causing us to have to reduce lanes on McNeil as they approach Parmer and McNeil."
In a news release, the Public Works Department stated, "The city team understands the immense frustration that a project of this magnitude can cause for a community. We regret that the project has been delayed and are working to reduce impacts as much as possible."
Traffic engineers are monitoring traffic flow to adjust signal timing, and Travis County sheriffs are managing traffic onsite during peak travel times and for events.
The project cost is $17.7 million, and Burchard-Juarez said the delays will not affect the total cost.
