Preparations are under way for relining a lengthy stretch of century-old sewer pipe along the Soapstone Valley floor.
DC Water gave a progress report at ANC 3F’s June 20th meeting (video), and set out the next steps ahead of the next round of cured-in-place pipe (CIPP) installation.
The first section, marked above by the yellow dotted line, underwent the CIPP treatment from mid-March to approximately mid-April. The final inspections and acceptance of the CIPP work in that section, as well as manhole repairs, kept the project from moving on to the next segment as quickly as previously projected. (In April, DC Water said May for the next CIPP work. In May, it said June.)
That acceptance, announced in a June 14th email update, and the completion of the manhole work allowed DC Water’s contractor, IPR, to dismantle the bypass that cleared the sewage from the first section of the sewer pipe. The bypass system is now being moved and reassembled for the next phase. Once bypass installation is complete, DC Water expects to begin closed-circuit video inspections. A June 26th email update has that starting the week of July 17th.
The first CIPP phase installed the liners in five “shots” between Broad Branch Road and the east end of Audubon Terrace. Shots 6 through 10 will start where IPR left off – near the end of Audubon Terrace – and end near the Soapstone trail entrance on Albemarle Street. Officials said a rough schedule of the CIPP work would be released in two to three weeks.
DC Water also said stream rebuilding work closest to Connecticut Avenue (Site 1 on the first map) was 95 percent complete as of June 20th.
“Customers will notice a major reduction in noise [at the Connecticut Avenue site] stemming from boulder delivery and hauling,” said DC Water in the emailed June 14th project update. This aspect of the Soapstone sewer rehabilitation project aims to protect the sewer infrastructure from erosion and damage, and prevent sewage from leaking. The stream rehabilitation and fortifying work has since moved to Site 4. DC Water’s schedule has that work complete and Site 5 under way the week of July 3rd.
Finally, when Soapstone Valley Park closed for the project in March 2022, DC Water predicted an October 2023 completion date. Asked during the ANC 3F meeting for the current target date, DC Water project director Peter Tinubu said the project will likely be complete next spring.