"Mid Terms"

With any project, the closer you get to the completion of a significant milestone (as in this case, the sitework and RiverWalk) the greater the flurry of activity.

Take a look at the following progress report from Rusty Meador, the project manager, this overview is a typical 'day in the life'. And speaking of Rusty, he was featured last Friday in an AP news article about the changing roles and responsibilities during the current economic upheaval. We're not happy about the economy but we are very proud of Rusty's perseverance and hard work - and its pretty cool they used photos of our project in the article.

Be on the lookout for an extended update along with some new aerial photos (hopefully) after the 10th of October:

Sitework:

We are working on getting as-built drawings completed for sewer\water, and any stormwater that is needed. That is the first step to having all of the utilities certified and signed off by the engineer. We are tracking to have all of the approvals by the week of October 19^th.

We have a verbal confirmation from the planning department that they are going to allow the installation of the additional storm basins between the upper and lower site and the elimination of the retaining wall on the south side of the site.

Once we pick up the stamped\approved plans we can immediately authorize the installation of the stormwater basins as they are the only thing standing in the way of the crosswalks... which the city just approved the specifications, and we now have the numbers where they need to be.

The carpenter traffic to the site will slow down on or about October 13^th. We are pushing to have all of the above mentioned stormwater boxes installed and certified to coordinate with the slowdown of site traffic. We anticipate a two week installation for all of the crosswalks.

Roundabout:

The pre-cast for the raised manholes were designed DOT rated by the engineer at the last minute. We got the submittals approved last week and the structures actually started to show up today – about a week earlier than they thought they could do it with the 5000psi rating. I talked to the contractor and let them know they are here. They believe they can get a crew here Thursday to start install. We anticipate 2-3 weeks for installation – including the dirt import. The average height we are raising the roundabout is 5 feet.

Riverwalk:

The north access with the decorative\sandblast concrete will be poured tomorrow afternoon and sandblasted Thursday morning. We will get two “landings. One at the top and one at the bottom. It actually breaks up the transition very well.

The rails are complete to the end of the riverwalk. They will be finishing\punching the main walk and accesses into the middle of next week.

The carpenter is going to include the middle access as part of his contract price, so I am going to go ahead and make provisions for that to happen. He will receive the materials the early part of next week, pour the grade beam, and have it set by the end of next week. It is worth the time\effort as it makes access to the marina that much easier.

The main power and transformers have been installed by Progress Energy. We will use the central and south access to get power to the riverwalk and marina. Miles will start building the power disconnects once he has the trex gangways completed early next week (we are going to use trex gangways from the riverwalk to the fixed piers instead of aluminum.

Finally, if you are near the site (at night) check out the new street lights. They are lit and look incredible. Once the RiverWalk and Marina lights are connected we will make a tremendous presence for both the riverfront and the City.