Noise-producing stream work behind Park Connecticut and Park Van Ness. A partial street closure. A farmers market meet-and-greet. DC Water’s September 14th project update email had dates for all of the above, but not for when the sewer pipe relining work might begin. Officials will be attending ANC 3F’s meeting on Tuesday, September 20th – another date to remember. That’s likely to come up.
Also coming up:
Through Friday, September 23: DC Water contractor IPR is working exclusively at Site 1 (see the map below) to install stone “in and around the creek to encase and protect exposed portions of the sewer line and restore the aquatic ecosystem.” This type of work requires the use of one or more water pumps to divert the creek around the work area, and neighbors have been saying the noise is constant, and loud.
Monday, September 26th: DC Water is planning a partial Albemarle Street closure between 30th and 32nd Streets. If the weather cooperates, a lane will be blocked by a truck pumping concrete to the storm sewer outfall below. Flaggers will be on site to guide drivers and pedestrians around the work site.
By October 11th: The public can review and comment on a draft air quality permit for the boiler truck that will produce the hot water necessary for curing the sewer pipe’s new resin liners once installation begins. The DC Department of Energy and the Environment is running the permitting process. Scroll to the bottom of the notice page for details on submitting comments and connecting to the virtual hearing at 5:30 p.m. on October 11th. An informal neighborhood working group is working on this, too.
Saturday, October 15th: DC Water will have representatives at the UDC Van Ness farmers market outside the UDC Student Center. Market hours are 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
DC Water has a 24-hour project hotline number: 202-612-3400. The project website is dcwatersoapstoneproject.com. And to sign up for the emailed project updates, write to [email protected] with the subject line “ADD ME.”
Green Eyeshades says
The main post included this news:
“Monday, September 26th: DC Water is planning a partial Albemarle Street closure between 30th and 32nd Streets. If the weather cooperates, a lane will be blocked by a truck pumping concrete to the storm sewer outfall below.”
That confirms my impression that the “storm sewer outfall” at Site 1 is underneath 32nd Street, NOT underneath Connecticut Avenue. It is good news that the concrete pipe will be re-poured in ten days (Sept. 26). With any luck, that should mean that the unbelievably obnoxious noise of jack hammers knocking down the old concrete pipe will be stilled.
But it seems more obvious as each week passes that DC Water’s contractors really don’t know what they are doing in rebuilding the watershed. They have been pounding rock and pumping water and moving rock for six weeks and seem no closer to finishing their work at Site 1 than when they started.
How did DC Water choose such an ineffective contractor? Is there anywhere in the District that this contractor has successfully finished rebuilding a watershed?
Green Eyeshades says
The link in the main blogpost here to DC Water’s dedicated web page for the Soapstone project gives a different number for the “24/7 Project Hotline: 202-301-8058.” The main blogpost says that “hotline” number is 202-612-3400. The first number had an automated answer that says “240-461-3827 is not available” and sounded a tone to permit a caller to leave a message. The second number was answered after six rings by a human being who identified themself as “DC Water emergencies” and said the usual reasons for calling the second number are to report no water, broken pipe, broken water main, but they did offer to try to provide information on a specific project that DC Water is working on.
There is no open source on the Internet that provides up-to-date information on progress (or lack of progress) specifically about the Soapstone project. The “hotlines” merely accept information or questions. The link at the end of the main blogpost to dcwatersoapstoneproject dot com has zero information about specific activities in specific months, zero information about the construction schedule other than the start in “Winter 2022” and the finish in “Winter 2024,” and zero information about any pending or issued government permits.
Green Eyeshades says
ANC3F’s Parks and Watersheds Committee is having a public meeting in two days, on September 28:
https://anc3f.com/event/parks-watersheds-meeting/
It seems to be shorter notice than usual, but I can’t be certain because I was monitoring this other link for that committee, which does not mention the new meeting:
https://anc3f.com/about/committees/soapstone-valleymelvin-hazen-parks-trails-committee/
The new meeting is the featured event on the ANC’s home page, which is here:
https://anc3f.com/
Please do not click on the link to the agenda labeled “here” because it links to the wrong agenda (something from five years ago).
Green Eyeshades says
The Parks & Watersheds Committee posted its notes of its September 28 meeting. The link to the .DOCX format of those notes is at the bottom of this committee page:
https://anc3f.com/about/committees/soapstone-valleymelvin-hazen-parks-trails-committee/
The direct link to the notes is here:
https://anc3f.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/ANC-3F-Parks-and-Watershed-Committee-9-28-22.docx
The notes are a small file (20 KB) and only a tiny portion relates to DC Water’s Soapstone Ravine project. This is the entirety of the notes on Soapstone:
“Soapstone update (Marjorie and Judy)
“Marjorie sent Erica and Judy an update by email.
“Judy – her Van Ness building board meeting was last week and she alerted everyone to the DOEE meeting. Judy is writing a note for their newsletter. Soliciting feedback from her neighbors who are directly affected by this project. People generally want the erosion to be remedied, and the project is in a later phase with less noise in their backyard.
“The ANC is taking on the issues involving DC Water and DOEE in Soapstone and CIPP projects.”