City of Norton Shores - Seminole Road Reconstruction Phase I

Work Completed the Week of June 14:

The Contractor (BEI) placed new 12-inch watermain to the east end of the project limits.  The crews were efficient in completing the majority of the water main and were ready to place the main leads across the WB lanes to the north side of Seminole Road in several locations on Thursday.  This work is necessary to cross the roadway in order to properly test the water main, prior to final water connections to the existing system.

The heavy rainfall event late Thursday evening into Friday morning, caused the exposed south side of the roadway to become extremely saturated.  Since these areas are the bypass lanes for the closures of the WB lanes (to accommodate the water main work), it became too saturated to adequately pass traffic.  BEI crews decided to delay the short term closures in order to allow these areas to adequately dry out and looked to resume on Monday.

The short term traffic advisory posted will continue until Tuesday, June 22.

Above:  Installation of 12-inch water main and 12-inch gate valve

Above:  Installation of 12-inch water main, 12-inch in-line gate valve, and 8-inch valve

Above:  12-inch water main construction at the eastern project limits

Above:  Water main crossovers to the north side with several utility crossings.

Upcoming the Week of June 21:

BEI will continue with the water main crossover work on Monday and Tuesday.  Please see the short term traffic advisory posted.  They will look to fill the new water main and prepare for pressure and bacterial testing of the water main on Wednesday and Thursday.  Once the water main has successfully passed all testing, the crews will connect one end of the new water main to the existing system and begin connections of water service lines that service individual properties.

Seminole Road is scheduled to experience periodic short term full closures for WB traffic between Park Street and Henry Street to accommodate water main work on Monday, June 21 and Tuesday, June 22  The short term closures will last 15-20 minutes and WB traffic will be opened back up until the next closure begins.  If you get caught in one of the closures, please be patient and the roadway will be opened up shortly to allow vehicles to pass through.

The work was not able to be completed last week due to the heavy rains received early Friday morning.

EB traffic will continue to be closed.

Work Completed Week of June 7:

The Contractor finished up the replacement of the sanitary sewer laterals on the south side of the roadway by the end of the day Tuesday.  Water main pipe was delivered on Wednesday morning and the crew immediately began installation, beginning near Henry Street and working to the east.  The water main installation is moving much quicker than the storm sewer due to the shallower depths.

The electrical subcontractor was also on site preparing the foundations for the future light poles.  Concrete was poured in several locations throughout the week on the south side of the roadway.

Above:  12-inch ductile iron water main installation.

Above:  12-inch ductile iron water main installation.

Above:  Pouring concrete for the light pole foundations.

Upcoming the Week of June 14:

The Contractor will continue with water main installation.  Please note the traffic advisory regarding short term (15-20 minute) full closures of WB Seminole Roadway on Thursday and Friday to accommodate the water main installation across the roadway and WB lanes.  The electrical contractor will also be on site to continue with construction of the concrete light pole foundations.

Seminole Road is scheduled to experience periodic short term full closures for WB traffic between Park Street and Henry Street to accommodate water main work on Thursday, June 17 and Friday, June 18.  The short term closures will last 15-20 minutes and WB traffic will be opened back up until the next closure begins.  If you get caught in one of the closures, please be patient and the roadway will be opened up shortly to allow vehicles to pass through.

EB traffic will continue to be closed.

Week of June 1:

The Contractor had intentions to start water main installation this week but there has been significant delays with having the ductile iron pipe delivered.  In lieu of that, the crews spent the majority of the week installing new PVC sanitary sewer laterals to each property along the south side of the roadway.  This work is being done to eliminate the existing clay service laterals.

On Tuesday, Consumers Energy performed permitted work to install a new service across the roadway.  The WB thru traffic was able to be maintained while this work was completed.

Above:  Excavation and compaction of the sewer lateral installation.

Above:  Installation of new PVC sanitary sewer laterals.

Above:  Crossing private utilities for sanitary sewer lateral installation.

Upcoming Week of June 8:

The Contractor will look to finish the remaining sanitary sewer service laterals early this week.  The water main pipe is scheduled to be delivered on Wednesday and they will immediately begin installation on the west end of the project limits near Henry Street.  The Contractor believes the water main installation will take approximately 2-weeks to complete.  The current EB closure and detour route will remain in effect.

Future Advisories:  Please be on the lookout for future traffic advisories in the next few weeks as temporary full closures will be required to place water main across the WB lanes in several locations.

Week of May 24th:

The Contractor continued the installation of storm sewer at the eastern end of the project limits.  Work consisted of 15-inch storm sewer installation, new catch basin structures, and extending catch basin leads partially across the roadway to the north.  The leads will provide service to the north side catch basin structures.

The Contractor also began preliminary grading operations at the west end of the project limits.

Upcoming the Week of May 31:

Please see earlier update regarding the Traffic Advisory planned for Tuesday, June 1 resulting in a temporary full closure to Thru WB Traffic to accommodate Consumers Energy work near Waalkes Street.

The Contractor intends to finish up storm sewer work on the east end of the project limits early in the week and then shift to water main construction starting on the western end of the project limits at Henry Street.  The water main work will take approximately 3-weeks to complete.  As part of that construction, future temporary WB closures to thru traffic, 1-2 days, will be required to connect the water main at various locations on the northern side of Seminole Road.  The Contractor intends to utilize two crews simultaneously to ensure this work gets done expeditiously.  Please be advised for future Advisories to stay apprised of these closures.

Work will also begin this week with preparation work for the new light poles.  The Contractor intends to begin placement of the concrete foundations on the south side of the roadway.

Advisory:  Short Term Full Closure Seminole Road from Henry Street to Park Street 6/1

Seminole Road is scheduled to experience a full closure at Waalkes Street for utility work on Tuesday, June 1, 2021 between 9 am and 3 pm.  Local traffic to business will be maintained to the business up to Waalkes as best as possible.

This closure is in addition to the Phase I closure of EB Seminole.

Week of May 17th:

The Contractor continued with placement of 12-inch to 24-inch storm sewer throughout the length of roadway.  The Contractor is extending pipes partially across the roadway in several locations for proposed catch basins on the opposite side of the roadway.  These pipes will be temporarily capped until the WB lane closure occurs.  Several manholes and catch basin structures were also placed.

As part of the project, several older clay sanitary sewer laterals will be replaced with new PVC pipe to ensure longevity.

Access to businesses and all side streets has been maintained throughout the project via the WB lanes.

Above:  Placement of a storm manhole and 18-inch HDPE pipe.

Above:  Construction of 18-inch storm sewer on the south side of the roadway.

Above:  Replacement of the 6-inch clay sewer lateral to the library with new PVC sewer pipe.  The Contractor pulls a trench box to keep the sandy soils contained, reduce excavation, and provide a safe pipe install for the crew members.

Upcoming the Week of May 24th:

The Contractor will look to finish up the remaining storm sewer work this week on the south side of the roadway, primarily working at the eastern end of the project limits.

They intend to start construction of the new 12-inch water main after the Memorial Day Holiday weekend.

Week 1 Update:

The EB detour route was put in place first thing Monday morning which closed the southern portion of the roadway.  Access is available to all driveways and businesses via the WB direction.  The Contractor immediately began removing the existing pavement with a milling machine.  The asphalt tailings are loaded into trucks and hauled off site.  The existing concrete curb and gutter, sidewalk, and driveways were all removed on the southern portion of the site.

Exploratory digging took place on Tuesday to determine the exact location of the City of Muskegon Heights 20-inch raw water main that is located near the center of the roadway to determine and confirm no potential utility conflicts.

The rest of the week was devoted to construction of new storm sewer beginning near Henry Street and working to the east.  The new 24-inch storm sewer is located near the southern curb line of the roadway.  There are a significant amount of existing private and public utilities for the Contractor to work around but work went smoothly.  The crew did have a late night on Wednesday in order to get storm sewer past a busy commercial driveway to ensure they had full access the following day which they were able to accomplish.

Above:  Milling the existing pavement and concrete curb and gutter and driveway removals.

Above:  Storm sewer manholes delivered to the site.

Above:  Exploratory digging near the 5/3 Bank to locate the existing 20-inch water main to ensure no potential conflicts with proposed utilities.

Above:  24-inch storm sewer and manhole construction amidst lots of existing utilities.

Above:  Gas main, gas service to the library, and electrical conduits all in close proximity to storm sewer construction.

Upcoming the Week of May 17:

The Contractor will continue with storm sewer construction for the next couple of weeks before moving on to watermain construction.  The EB closure will stay in effect until around the July 4th holiday before switching to the north side of the roadway and the WB closure.

Click below for EB detour route depiction.

Phase 1 – EB Detour Figure

Westbound traffic will be maintained through the work zone.  Please lower your speed.