Jessica Cejnar Andrews / Tuesday, July 11, 2023 @ 3:22 p.m. / Infrastructure, Local Government
Del Norte Supervisors' Emergency Resolution Speeds Up Timeline For Permanent Fix to Washington Boulevard Culvert
County engineers determined that a plan to install a slip liner as a temporary fix to a failed culvert underneath Washington Boulevard would be unsuccessful. | Google maps
Previously:
• Del Norte Seeks $2.5 Million Grant for Washington Blvd. Culvert Replacement Project
• Del Norte Transportation Officials Delay Funding Requests for City, County Projects
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Del Norte County supervisors approved the emergency resolution Engineer Jon Olson was after on Tuesday. But instead of a temporary fix to keep a culvert underneath Washington Boulevard from collapsing, the county will move forward with a permanent project earlier than anticipated.
Since he submitted his staff report, Olson said a camera inspection of the culvert revealed that about 100 feet of the pipe was gone. A proposed temporary fix to slip line the culvert with a smaller pipe wouldn’t work, he said.
Olson said engineering staff had worked with Tidewater Contractors to look at options. The inspection revealed larger cobbles and more rocks than were previously visible when the water level was higher.
“My current recommendation, which is different than my staff report, is to still declare an emergency, but to either do two options,” Olson told supervisors. “One is a big dig, which is basically we need to excavate down and just replace the culvert through conventional methods. And probably the preferred alternative, which would have less impact to Washington Boulevard and would be a jack and bore type operation where you would come in with an auger and you’re just pushing the pipe through.”
Olson’s staff report noted that crews left the partially installed liner in place fearing that removing it would lead to further culvert collapse. The second option likely would have been the preferred permanent solution to replacing the culvert, which is on Washington Boulevard east of Harrold Street, he told supervisors.
At a Nov. 1, 2022 Del Norte Local Transportation Commission meeting, Assistant County Engineer Rosanna Bower said the bottom had rotted out and about a decade ago a blockage had caused water to pool behind the road. Staff had been worried about the road failing back then, Bower told commissioners.
Del Norte County was seeking Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act dollars from the DNLTC at that November meeting. It had already allocated a total of $530,358 in Regional Surface Transportation Program dollars toward the design of the project. It needed roughly $80,000 to complete that design, according to Bower. She estimated that construction on the culvert replacement would start in 2025.
In December, the Board of Supervisors authorized staff to seek $2.5 million in state Regional Early Action Planning grant program dollars arguing that if the culvert failed, Sutter Coast Hospital would be disconnected from the Crescent City Airport. In a county news release at that time, officials said construction for that project was currently unfunded.
On Tuesday, Olson confirmed that the second option, the jack and bore method, would be the permanent replacement for the culvert. Consultants Consor Engineering estimate the project would cost about $1.2 million, which included the installation and environmental controls.
Funding for the project could come from reserves the county set aside in the Road Fund, according to Olson. There is also money in the county’s Flood Control Fund that could be used for the endeavor, though it wouldn’t be sufficient to cover the entire project.
An emergency resolution from Del Norte County would help expedite the process. In his staff report, Olson said California Public Contracts Code Section 22050 allows the Board of Supervisors to forego normal bidding procedures for a project if all but one approve an emergency resolution.
District 3 Supervisor Chris Howard added that an emergency resolution would also allow Del Norte County to bypass the environmental permitting process dictated through CEQA.
Howard also noted that when the project came to the Transportation Commission for consideration in December, it was competing against Crescent City’s Front Street replacement project for funding.
“We were discussing this based on the best available info at the time and we decided to support the Front Street project,” Howard said. “But obviously we didn’t know what we know now, which has created this situation. It’s frustrating, but at the same time, if this is the permanent fix I’m definitely supportive of it.”
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