Soapstone sewer project updates: UV curing approved; Questions about wood chips; The area’s other reconstruction project

UV is a go.

DC Water has DC Department of Energy and the Environment (DOEE) approval to complete the final sections of the Soapstone sewer rehabilitation project in a different way: using UV to harden the pipe’s new liner. The bulk of the relining work used hot water to cure the resin liner.

DC Water got the news on March 19th, the same day as ANC 3F’s March meeting. Project manager Peter Tinubu told ANC 3F commissioners that the schedule would be determined once the necessary materials arrive in the U.S.

There has been no project update email from DC Water since February 20th. Mitchell Baer, the 3F commissioner whose single-member district includes the Soapstone Valley, took it upon himself to give Soapstone neighbors and fellow commissioners an update on April 11th.

Baer said of the switch to UV curing: “This means DC Water will complete the three sections (Park Van Ness, Lenore Lane and Van Ness North/East) using a technology that has less environmental impacts, lasts longer, and is commonly used in similar operations in Europe.”

Other updates in Baer’s email:

2. DC Water has stated in response to an inquiry from the community that the trees that were cut down and piled up as part of the project will be “chipped” and spread on the trails, not removed from the park area.

3. DC Water has yet to provide a schedule for the remainder of the project, including this “chipping” work; the removal of bridges, temporary path planking, and the temporary paths; re-planting of trees, the installation of a gate at the head of the stone cascade in Site 1 [near the Albemarle Street entrance to the park], and future rehabilitation work on the existing hiking/walking/running trail in the Valley. But DCW steadfastly states that its signs, indicating an end date of May 31, 2024, are accurate.

4. DC Water has informed me that they will be closing Albemarle St between Connecticut Ave and 32nd Street to complete infrastructure maintenance, but has not provided a schedule for this work or the duration of the daily closures or the exact nature of the work. There has also been a vague reference to additional work on Audubon Terrace, but details have yet to be provided.

Rock Creek Park does not typically use wood chips as trail surfaces, and Baer has concerns about their use in the Soapstone Valley, which sees heavy stormwater runoff. Baer has attempted to contact Nick Bartolomeo, the Rock Creek Park resources manager, for confirmation of the plan.

Another reconstruction project

Besides rehabilitating the more than century-old sewer pipe, DC Water is reconstructing Soapstone Creek to better withstand and control stormwater erosion, much as a DOEE contractor did while daylighting a buried portion of Broad Branch stream a decade ago.

Another DOEE project focused on a section of parkland between Soapstone Creek and Linnean Avenue north of the park. As we wrote in March 2014: “This project will stabilize the slope that is being eroded by the stormwater that gushes into Soapstone during rain storms.”

The work was completed in 2015, but “excessive erosion from stormwater,” washed it away, says DOEE. And, it intends to try again. In early March, agency started reaching out to ANC 3F commissioners and some neighbors about new plans to restore the Linnean gully.

“The Linnean Outfall and Gully Restoration project will be designed to align with the asset protection planned and constructed by DC Water along Soapstone Valley,” says the project website.

The gully flows into this area, which has been transformed by DC Water’s stream restoration work.