The company overseeing engineering design for the dilapidated sewer system east of I-5 told Blaine City Council during its March 14 work-study session that construction is expected to start this summer.
The city started working on the estimated $6-7 million project last spring when council was made aware the sewer infrastructure upgrades had been put off since 2005 after sewage leaked into streets near the Blaine school district campus. Council quickly prioritized the project as concern grew that a faulty sewer system would delay anticipated east Blaine growth, especially in the Gateway parcel and large developments such as Grandis Pond and Harbor Hills, formerly known as East Maple Ridge.
Rodney Langer is the project’s lead designer from David Evans and Associates, which the city contracted last spring to conduct engineering, design and cost analysis of Blaine’s sewer system. Langer told councilmembers he recommended a new, 24-inch diameter sewer trunk line by the school campus that would reduce as it continued east to the truck route. A portion of the sewer on 8th Street is overcapacity and will be replaced to make a connection to the new trunk on G Street. A belly in the sewer line near the U.S. Customs and Border Protection facility will also be fixed, Langer said.
“The survey is essentially complete,” he said. “We’ve mapped all of the utilities as best we can. We have encountered a number of utility conflicts, particularly in the alleys. Some short segments of those lines will need to be removed or temporarily set aside.”
Langer said the city needs to get right-of-way access from Washington State Department of Transportation to work on an existing line close to I-5. He also said they were not able to find easements on a couple of private properties, including the school, and are working to gain access to those areas.
The biggest concern for crews right now is soft soil in project areas, Langer said. The soft soil is expected to be a problem with shoring and will likely increase costs because backfill materials will need to be imported, he said.
The project is estimated to cost about $6 million, but a 15-percent contingency puts it closer to $6.5-6.7 million while design work finishes.
“We still have a lot of variables to search through,” Langer said. “The plans and specs are at about 75 percent.”
Langer said they’re working to be bid ready by the end of May and hope to start construction in early summer. Construction is expected to go until late fall.
Engineering and design were originally expected to be complete by last September. Langer said staffing challenges, and trouble with soil conditions and easements slowed the timeline.
“We are behind on the design schedule but I think we’re still going to be OK because of how wet things are, we don’t want to get started too early,” Langer said. “We do have some challenges to schedule with utilities and WSDOT.”
Councilmember Richard May said he was worried about delaying the project because of rapid inflation.
“I’m worried about the actual costs changing every six months,” he said. “The sooner we start this, the sooner we’ll get it done at the old pricing.”
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