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Sixth Avenue water main replacement on schedule: Giri

All of the work on the Sixth Avenue water main replacement should be completed in the beginning of April.
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City of Port Alberni works crew members Brandon Colclough

The replacement of the eight-inch water main on Roger Street between Sixth Avenue and Wallace Street is going as planned, according to City of Port Alberni waterworks charge hand Amar Giri.

The city is replacing an asbestos cement water main from the early 1970s with a PVC C900 pipe because it's both cheaper and easier to work with, said Giri.

(See a more detailed, earlier story on the project here.)

The work has reduced traffic at the Roger and Sixth intersection to one lane but Giri said it would be back to its normal flow by 10 p.m. tonight (March 8).

"We're going to fill it," he said. The city was doing a tie-in from the new Sixth Avenue line to the existing Roger Street main.

The work to replace the main has been challenging because of all of the utilities in the area.

“The main challenges on this block is that everything is underground. We have the underground Telus, we have the fiber-optic [cables], gas, hydro and we had to cross the high-pressure gas main and working under the hydro wires...it was a challenge getting around it.”

All of the work, including switching a connection for all businesses on the block and a tie-in at Wallace Street, should be completed in the beginning of April.