Note: Article updated on Oct. 1, 2006
Construction on storm sewers behind East Green's Gamertsfelder Hall to add more drainage capacity will continue until at least mid-October, a project foreman said.
The project, managed by Zanesville-based Shelley and Sands Inc., has been ongoing since July and will tie into an existing drainpipe system that empties into the Hocking River, project foreman Frank Farmsworth said.
Pipes as large as 42 inches in diameter will replace smaller parts of the system that previously carried up to eight times their recommended water volume, Farmsworth said.
Shelley and Sands bid $488,000 for the contract, according to information provided by Nate Worthington, a project manager.
Since July, the company has brought in separate work crews for utility, asphalt and concrete work, project manager Roy Heskett said, adding that 20 to 30 people will work on the project during the four-month period.
Shelley and Sands also has taken two other recent projects in Athens, including one at the intersection of routes 56 and 682, Heskett said.
The biggest challenges of the East Green sewer project so far have been working around hidden utility lines from the city, university and private companies on the site and safety with vehicle and pedestrian traffic, Heskett said.
We don't want anyone falling into a 6-foot-deep hole
he said.
Students living on East Green said the construction project has not been a problem. Freshman Laura Schoch, who uses the laundry facilities directly behind the construction, said the work only had been an inconvenience when stairs leading to Gamertsfelder Hall were blocked off earlier this quarter.
Sophomore Gamertsfelder resident Eric Benjamin said he was not even aware of the point of the construction.
It doesn't create too much of a hassle Benjamin said, adding that though the work starts early in the morning, it is nothing earth-shattering.
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