Public Works Shares Details of 2017 Construction Season
Construction season is underway in the City of Marshfield, and the Public Works department has three reconstruction projects scheduled for this spring, along with several other asphalt surfacing projects.
Read the first “Street Smarts” article to learn how streets are chosen for work!
Bids are currently being awarded for contracted work, with projects including sanitary sewer rehabilitation, street construction, storm sewer maintenance, water main, ditching, overlay, asphalt shouldering, and more.
“We do have a few projects that are worth noting,” said Tom Turchi, City Engineer. This includes reconstruction projects on Wood Ave (Blodgett Street to North Street), Maple Avenue (Depot Street to Arnold Street), and at the intersection of Fourth Street/Peach Avenue. Reconstruction projects are those that include underground work, new sub-base material, and a new surface.
Wood involves a sanitary sewer reconstruction with water main.
“We basically put a new surface on the road when everything’s said and done,” said Turchi. “We will leave the sidewalk and curb/gutter in place because it is in good shape. It will be an asphalt street when done.”
Concrete is used on streets with frequent truck traffic, while lower volume residential areas are fine with asphalt.
Maple will have sanitary sewer rehabilitation with replaced water main and storm sewer repairs, ending with a totally reconstructed concrete surface.
“In this case, both Maple and Wood that Tom has mentioned have sewer and water beneath it that need replacement, so that triggers more of a reconstruction type project rather than just a surface improvement,” said Public Works Director Dan Knoeck.
Water mains need replacement when there is a history of water main breaks or capacity is 
inadequate. Sewer mains need replacement when there are cracked or leaky pipes, or when there are capacity limitations, which are evaluated with a special underground camera that is sent through the pipes.
“Sometimes those defects can be repaired internally,” said Knoeck. “Sometimes it makes sense to replace the whole thing.”
Storm sewer maintenance is scheduled for McMillan Street (culvert extension) and Laemle Avenue, but they will only need maintenance and not total reconstruction.
One of the more significant projects this construction season will be at the intersection of 4th and Peach Avenue. Here, traffic signals will be updated and the intersection made more pedestrian-friendly.
“All of the pavement is coming out and being replaced,” said Turchi. “There will be underground sanitary sewer and water main work, as well as storm sewer work.”
These reconstructions will remain close to the intersection, extending 50 feet east and west of the intersection, 75 feet south, and 300 feet north.
“The signals at Peach have been in need of repair for a long time,” said Knoeck, adding that Peach has been in the City’s Capital Improvement Program for several years.
“It’s kind of been patched together to get us to this point,” said Turchi. “They are actually the oldest ones in operation right now, without upgrades.”
Due to its proximity to Marshfield Middle School, the project at Peach/4th will take place when school is out of session.
A detour will be marked for the 4th Street/Peach project. Maple will be closed to traffic with intermittent street closures as needed for the intersection of Arnold/Maple (which is scheduled to be closed for 21 calendar days).
“Our goal is to get in and get out,” said Knoeck.
Smaller scale projects involving a new overlay will be completed on Chestnut Avenue (Ives Street to Kalsched Street), Laurel Street (Veterans Parkway to Wood Avenue), Walnut Avenue (Doege Street to Ives Street), Adams Avenue (Adler Road to 5th Street), and Franklin Street (Central Avenue to Cedar Avenue).
Asphalt shouldering will be completed on 4th Street (Hume Avenue to Anton Avenue).
Mill-in-place with ditching, which involves redoing the drainage, ditching, and driveway culverts as needed, as well as any spot repairs in sewer and water, is when the surface gets milled (pulverized) to grind up existing asphalt. The road is then re-leveled, and a new asphalt surface is placed over the top.
“In the end, we are adding three inches of pavement over what was there,” said Turchi. “There is a little bit of additional structure, but you get the new surface out of it, and there’s a 20-25 year life on that. The key is improving ditching and drainage.”
Mill-in-place is scheduled to be conducted on Laird Street (Adams Avenue to North Hills Avenue), Forest Street (Cherry Avenue to Plum Avenue), Plum Avenue (Franklin Street to Grant Street), Carmen Drive (Palmetto Avenue to Waushara Drive), Katherine Court (Carmen Drive to cul-de-sac), Hume Court (Hume Avenue to cul-de-sac), Arnold Street (Hinman Avenue to cul-de-sac), Cherry Avenue (Franklin Street to Grant Street), Hawthorn Avenue (8th Street to cul-de-sac, north and south), 8th Street (Holly Avenue to Linden Avenue), Hawthorn Avenue (5th Street to Adler Road), and 12th Street (Central Avenue to Maple Avenue.)
Ditching for future mill-in-place projects is scheduled to take place on Felker Avenue (27th-25th Streets), 25th Street (Felker Avenue to Maywood Avenue), and 26th Street (Felker Avenue to Maywood Avenue).
For more information, please contact Marshfield Public Works at (715) 387-8424 or City Engineer Tom Turchi tom.turchi.@ci.marshfield.wi.us or Dan Knoeck dan.knoeck@ci.marshfield.wi.us.
