A water main replacement project starts Monday on three Evanston streets and a sewer lining project will begin the following week.
The water main work involes portions of Clark, Austin and Keeney streets and the work is expected to take 11 weeks to complete.
Deteriorated water mains will be replaced with new ductile iron pipe and water services to individual buildings will also be replaced.
As part of the project the streets will be resurfaced and curbs and sidewalks will be repaired as needed.
In addition, the sidewalk on the west side of Chicago Avenue will be widened to ten feet between Church Street and Clark Street.
The work will start on Clark Street from Orrington to Chicago avenues. Next the contractor will do Austin Street from Ridge to Custer avenue, followed by Keeney Street from Hartrey to Dodge avenues.
Daytime no-parking restricts will be in place for portions of the period at each construction site. The work is being done by A. Lamp Concrete Contractors, Inc. of Schaumburg. Questions about the project can be answered by calling 311.
Insituform Technologies will rehabilitate about 2,175 feet of 48-inch diameter brick sewers on Prairie Avenue between Central and Grant Streets. The work will take place in stages from July 22 to Aug. 15, weather permitting. Parking restrictions will be required in order to complete the work.
The contractor will install a cured-in-place fiberglass liner inside the existing sewer main.
Residents may notice an odor of styrene, a resin used to harden the liner during the construction process. City officials say that while the smell is not pleasant, it’s not dangerous at the levels used in the project.
To help prevent the smell from getting into a building, residents can pour a gallon of water into each basement floor drain. This keeps the trap full and prevents sewer gases from coming in. Because the water in the drain trap evaporates, this practice should be done regularly.
The sewer work will start at Central Street and working south towards Grant Street.
In general, the contractor’s work area will be at the manholes located on Prairie Avenue at the alleys mid-block between the east/west streets. No parking will be allowed in and around each work area for 2 to 3 days including nights. Residents are asked to please pay particularly close attention to the city signs to minimize the impact to traffic.
On each block, the contractor will insert the liner through the manhole to rehabilitate the sewer to the north and then the next day insert the liner through the manhole to rehabilitate the sewer to the south. It will take approximately 16 hours each day from the time they begin the installation of the liner until the liner is fully installed.
When the liner is inserted into the sewer main in front of each property, it will seal the building/house sewer service connections and prevent them from flowing into the public sewer. The contractor will perform by-pass pumping of the sewer services as necessary to prevent any sewage from backing up into properties. Once the liner is completely installed, the contractor will cut the liner where the sewer services are located, thereby reestablishing flow from each property to the public sewer.
This project will be monitored and inspected by the City of Evanston Utilities Department. Direct questions to Mark Steinbuck, sewer division supervisor, at 847-448-8219.