02/02/16

The weather is cooperating so the contractor is continuing to work within two areas with the permission of Arlington.

Activity continues in the area of the Park Circle water tower. We have to install approximately 30 more feet of pipe along with manholes. The activation of newly installed water lines will continue throughout the month of February provided the weather continues to cooperate.

Restoration of the water tower area will take place late spring or early summer depending upon the progress of work.

The other area where the contractor may begin to work next week is at the intersection of Spring Street and Hillsdale Road. The contractor is waiting for construction supplies to arrive and if they do arrive next week then they will begin the installation at this location.

09/16/15

New 54-inch Butterfly Valves

Progress Update by Street

This update will describe by street what has been accomplished and what remains to be constructed.

Brattle Street
Complete

Mass Avenue
Complete

Robbins Road (Lower)
Final paving will be complete today.  Loam and seeding will be completed in areas. 

Robbins Road (Upper)
General clean-up before winter

Hawthorne Road
General clean-up before winter

Park Avenue and Park Circle
Currently on hold waiting for gas company to relocate a gas line and repair a gas leak.  Small work items remain prior to winter.
 
Brunswick Road Area
 
Brunswick Road
Paving complete.  Pipe connections will be made at bottom of Brunswick/Pleasant Street.

Hillsdale Road
Paving is complete. Stumps removed the week of Oct.19, Sidewalks and driveway aprons will be repaired the week of Oct. 26.

Ledge Removal at Hillsdale Road

Pleasant Street
Large piping and valve work to begin next week.  This work will continue through December 4, 2015.
 
Curb to curb paving of streets will be completed next year in the Spring/Summer of 2016.

08/10/15

Progress Update by Street

This update will describe by street what has been accomplished and what remains to be constructed.
 
Brattle Street
All of the pipe has been installed.  The contractor plans on milling and paving the temporary patch with new asphalt on August 17, weather permitting.

Mass Avenue
All of the pipe has been installed.  Paving within the patch area will occur in the fall.

Robbins Road (Lower)
All of the pipe has been installed and all of the service connections have been completed.  Milling and paving of temporary patch with new permanent patch should take place around August 18. Smaller crews will be working and repairing within manholes. Temporary sidewalk patches will be replaced with concrete and restoration of loam strips will occur in late September.

Robbins Road (Upper)
All of the pipe has been installed. Milling and paving of temporary patch with new permanent patch.  Any berms that were disturbed will be replaced.  Paving will take place around August 19. Protection around the trees will be removed after all of the paving has been completed.

Hawthorne Road
All of the pipe should be installed by August 14. Additional work (pipe restraints/thrust blocks) will be installed at Robbins and Hawthorne and in the area of 6 Hawthorne. Paving will be replaced with permanent paving and berms will be installed.

Park Avenue
In the area of 1 Park Circle and 278 Park Avenue the project requires the installation of a large concrete vault and three manholes. The work within this area should begin around August 17. Once the above work is complete then the pipe installation will resume from Hawthorne Ave. into Park Ave. and up the hill towards the water tower.  All of this work should be complete by the end of November.
 

Brunswick Road Area

Brunswick Road
All of the pipe has been installed and service connections have been completed.  Temporary patch will be removed and permanent patch will be placed. This is scheduled to occur in the fall.

Hillsdale Road
The contractor is currently installing the town water and sewer lines.  This should be complete by Thursday August 13.  Next will be the installation of the new 36-inch line and that will begin around August 24. Once that is complete a temporary patch will be placed within the trench.

Pleasant Street
The contractor will be cutting into the existing 56-inch line located within Pleasant Street to install the T connection.  This will begin around mid September and will continue until late October.
 
Explanation of patching
When the contractor completes the pipe installation they will follow that work with a temporary patch.  Once that is complete the contractor will come back and make a wider, neater, two- to four-inch milled area and then place asphalt within the same area. This is generally a neater, smoother finish that will hold up for a few seasons, if not longer. In areas where final paving is called for, the contractor will come back and mill/grind the entire street and pave the entire street for a nice, clean, smooth finish.   
Final paving from curb to curb will be done in the spring/summer of 2016.  Generally it is best to wait a full season or two to allow for the trench to settle and then come back and finish with final paving.  This ensures a better surface for years to follow.

06/10/15

Progress Update: Upper Robbins Road

RJV construction has informed the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority they are encountering a fair amount of ledge within the upper Robbins Road area.  RJV will now have to employ the use of a drill rig to drill within the area to attempt to break up/split the ledge to allow for the installation of the new 24 inch water pipe.  Given this current subsurface condition the current production level will begin to slow.

05/26/15

Update on work at Brunswick Road, Robbins Road and Mass. Ave

As previously identified, the contractor (RJV) ran into a fair amount of ledge as they proceeded up the hill towards Hillsdale Road.  Because of this, the new pipe installation along Brunswick Road has been moving more slowly than anticipated. The contractor is doing his best to remove the ledge, but has been slowed quite a bit by these subsurface conditions.

On the other side of town, the contractor is utilizing two construction crews to replace the old pipe.  One crew is working on lower Robbins Road and proceeding up the hill.  They are advancing at a rate of approximately 150 to 200 feet per week.

The other crew has completed the pipe installation along Brattle Street and is currently working on Massachusetts Avenue.  The crew on Mass Ave. is working towards Robbins Road.  Once this work is complete they will leapfrog the crew on lower Robbins Road and begin to work on upper Robbins Road.  They will start work on upper Robbins at Gray Street and work their way up the hill towards Hawthorne Road.   The work on upper Robbins Road may begin late next week, if not next week then the following week.

05/01/15

Work on Test Pits in Upper Robbins Road Area to Begin May 5, 2015

The Massachusetts Water Resources Authority and our contractor RJV are planning on conducting test pits within the upper Robbins Road area.  Test pits consist of a small excavated area normally performed to determine the exact location of a pipe, exact size of a pipe, and also to determine the location of other utilities within a certain area.

The sub surface investigations involve blocking off a small area of the roadway with a truck and backhoe.  The backhoe will excavate down to a  depth of approximately six to nine feet.  The work at each location will take approximately one day.  RJV will be performing the test pits in four to five locations.  Work will begin on Tuesday May 5th and be completed by the end of the week.  Hours of operation will be from 7AM-4PM. During this same time period the contractor will be pruning some of the trees located along the street to allow for the machinery to operate without breaking tree limbs.

Construction Zone Safety Plans, including police details will be provided for traffic and pedestrian safety.
If you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact Jeffrey McLaughlin, MWRA, 617-305-5762.

03/31/15

Work on Brattle Street and Brunswick Road to Begin April 6, 2015

On Monday, April 6, 2015, the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority and contractor RJV Construction, will begin preparatory work in advance installing water mains on Brattle Street and on Brunswick Road. Traffic detours of Brattle Street will begin as part of this preparatory work. Brattle Street is scheduled to be closed to through traffic during the day between Dudley Street and Massachusetts Avenue briefly during the week of April 6th, and then again for the construction beginning on April 13th. Drivers will be detoured down Dudley Street. Traffic detours around Brunswick Road and Hillsdale Road will continue throughout construction.

It is anticipated that the work on Brattle Street will take approximately two months, with the work progressing onto Massachusetts Avenue and up Robbins Road. The work on Brunswick Road is anticipated to last approximately three months.

Work will be performed Monday through Friday from 7AM-3:30PM except on Massachusetts Avenue where the work hours will be restricted to 9:00AM- 3:00PM. Police details will be provided for traffic and pedestrian safety. Please contact Jeffrey McLaughlin of the MWRA at 617-305-5762 with any questions.