DC Water is replacing thousands of feet of cast iron water mains in Forest Hills over the next several months. The project requires digging up streets east and west of Linnean Avenue between Albemarle and Davenport.
The project area is marked in red.
The work began this week.
Warning signs on the uphill stretch of the 2800 block of Davenport.
At noon on Wednesday, a crew was cutting the pavement on Linnean between Davenport Street and Chesterfield Place. One lane of traffic could go by at a time and no parking was available. The street trees on the west side were surrounded by chain link fencing.
According to a schedule DC Water gave to ANC 3F and Council member Mary Cheh, the workers will remain on this section of Linnean at least through next week, when excavation and replacement water main installation are to begin.
By the conclusion of the project, DC Water will install approximately 12,240 linear feet of six- to 12-inch water mains. It is also offering to replace lead service lines leading to the homes with copper pipe, at no cost to the homeowners.
Project signboards are posted on Albemarle and Davenport at Linnean.
Some fire hydrants and valves will be replaced, as well. And the project includes restoring street and other surfaces once the excavation is done.
The project’s target completion date is March 2022, and DC Water says some work may have to be done at night and on weekends to remain on schedule.
Green Eyeshades says
A short note regarding this sentence: ” The street trees on the west side were surrounded by chain link fencing.”
Over the weekend, I walked that stretch of Linnean and noticed that several of the protective fences around the trees have steel pipes rubbing against the branches or trunks of the trees they are supposedly protecting. The contractor needs to brace those pipes to prevent contact with the trees.
Green Eyeshades says
Great scoop by Marlene to discover this amazing detail!
DC Water “is also offering to replace lead service lines [LSLs] leading to the homes with copper pipe, at no cost to the homeowners.”
None of the many public signboards for this project disclose that aspect of the project. DC Water’s willingness to replace LSLs for free is long overdue. How many low-income areas of the District have been given the same offer?
Charlie says
You write that the target completion date is March 2022. Did you mean to write March 2021?
FHC says
To be honest, that was our first thought, too. But that’s the completion date from DC Water. It’s here in black and white on the project site.
Larry Petro says
I noticed that the map included with this article does not include Allendale Place as part of the water main replacement project. However, according to a DC Water representative and an email memo sent to residents in the project area, the water mains will be replaced on Allendale Place.