Memorandum
City of Lawrence
Public Works
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TO: |
Mark Thiel |
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FROM: |
Tom Orzulak, Street Division Manager |
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Date: |
01/17/2013 |
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RE: |
2012 Street Division Year End Report |
The City of Lawrence Street Maintenance Division is responsible for 329.2 center line miles of streets (812.5 lane miles) with 36 employees. The work force is divided into 4 crews, asphalt, concrete, levee/sweeping/alleys and storm water.
The Street Maintenance Division provides a wide range of services for our citizens, for transportation maintenance and for community events. Our normal activities include pot hole patching, curb and gutter repair, City owned sidewalks and wheel chair ramps, crack sealing, street sweeping, snow removal and storm drain and pipe cleaning. These are the things that people see us do every day.
We also maintain the Kansas River Levee system. The levee covers 2600 acres and is about 13 miles long. The Levee protects North Lawrence and a large portion of farm land in Douglas County from the Kansas River and Mud Creek. The river levels are monitored by our staff year round and are the first to respond to rising water levels. We also maintain 8 miles of the Levee top for recreation, a popular place for walking, jogging and bike riding.
We take care of 250 miles of open drainage, many of which that are in remote areas of the City. We also take care of the three storm water pump stations in North Lawrence. These pumps keep the underpass on North 2nd street dry and remove up to 22,000 gallons of water per minute form the low lying areas every time it rains.
The Street Division provides traffic control devices for special events, all emergencies such as fires or major traffic accidents and as needed throughout the community. All members of the Division have received training for natural disasters such as tornadoes or floods and are experts at debris management and removal. We often assist other City Departments with heavy construction projects that involve earth moving, concrete and asphalt work. It is safe to say that no matter what happens in Lawrence, the Street Division is there providing service.
The winter season of 2011/2012 ended as it started as one of the mildest on record. We only had one event that was of any consequence and it was over in 16 hours. The winter season of 2012/2013 has been a continuation of the past season so far, with only 1 more event. We used very little salt so far and are evaluating if we have enough for the coming winter. We did, however, take bids for salt. The price remained the same as last year so we may purchase some and stock pile it to save money in the coming budget cycle.
The mild winter had other positive advantages by allowing us to do many construction projects that are normally not possible. We got a jump on curb, gutter and concrete street parching projects between N. Michigan and W.4th St. These streets, along with the completed mill and overlay projects, have upgraded the streets in the entire neighborhood.
The number of pot holes calls for this year from the Pot Hole Hot Line and form the web site e-mail form has gone from 675 in 2011 to 320 last year. This is an obvious benefit of the good weather and our aggressive maintenance plan. Instead of patching pot holes, we were able to do a major patching of Kasold Dr. form 8th St to Bob Billings Parkway that will extend the life of the road for a few more years. This is the last section of that road that has not received rebuilding or major maintenance. We also were able to increase the amount of crack sealing from 63,272 lbs. in 2011 to 93,390 lbs. in 2012.
We have had 4 major events not related to street repairs last year. They were the St. Patrick’s Day 25th anniversary Lawrence Parade, the Kansas Relays Downtown Lawrence Shot Put event, the first ever Lawrence Color Run and the annual Lawrence Old Faison Horse Parade. These special events, along with numerous runs, walks, sidewalk sales and the NCAA-Final 4 KU, biggest block party ever, require putting up signs and placing barricades, extra sweeping and general assistance to other Departments.
Other major projects completed included the following; 1, catch basin and under drain installation on Kasold near Peterson to correct a serious icing problem. 2, a significant amount of deferred maintenance needed to the Street Division yard at 1140 Haskell Ave. part of was recycling the parking lot surface in place and paving. 3, Cleaning the drainage ditch and culvert at 27th St. and Crossgate Dr. which amounted to moving about 3,100 cu. yds. Of dirt. 4, Repair/replacement of a 72” storm line at 9th and Pennsylvania. 5, installation of a 42” storm line on Mississippi and 10thSt to serve the Varsity House project that included new catch basins, curb and gutter and paving that improved the overall drainage in the entire area. 5, the beautification of the North Lawrence Turnpike entrance in conjunction with the Parks and Recreation Department which include new curb, stamped concrete walks and drainage improvements.
These projects demonstrate our skills, our pride in workmanship and our commitment in Providing Quality City Services.
The continued growth of the division in terms of responsibility, project complexity and size continues to grow with much success. The divisions’ staff is a group of professionals that are eager to take on these growing responsibilities. In many instances the only limit to their ability will be equipment owned. I look forward to continued growth of the division with much success.
R) Turntable
MAJOR PROJECTS COMPLETED (in addition to routine maintenance)
1. Patching on Kasold from 8th St to Bob Billings Pkwy (263.74 tons of hot mix asphalt)
2. Graded all alleys in the City 2 times.
3. Swept all City streets 2 times and all major streets twice.
4. swept the downtown 8 times.
5. swept the University area 3 times.
6. Cleaned 2,141 feet of storm pipe.
7. Had 2 major and 3 minor snow storms.
8. Responded to 110 e-mail and 210 Hot line phone complaints.
9. Mowed the entire levee 4 times.
10. Mowed approx. 2,910.5 acres of right-of-way, City property and drainage ditches.
11. Cleaned 6 well ditches on Mud Creek levee.
12. Paved the gravel potion of Johnson Ave.
13. Grade all levee ramps.
14. Cleaned and repair the storm water retention pond near the County Shop.
15. Repaired/replaced curbs for micro-surface contract.
16. Concrete patching of the 100 block of Minnesota.
17. Concrete patching of the 100 block of Florida.
18. Used 92,390 lbs. of crack filler on various streets.
19. Pinewood Ave concrete curb repair.
20. Northwood Ave concrete curb repair.
21. Recycle in place the parking lot at 1140 Haskell (Public Works lot).
22. Installed curbs and stamped concrete sidewalks around all of the islands of the N3rd St Kansas Turnpike interchange beautification project.
23. Cleaned the waterway and culvert at 27th St and Crossgate.
24. Repair termite damage to various out buildings at the Street Division yard.
25. Repaired and painted the spreader rack at the Street Division yard.
26. Continued installing a salt brine system to the rest of the Street snow removal fleet.
27. Converted one street truck to use natural gas.
28. Did all the street restoration for all the in house Utility Department water line installation.
29. Under drain Kasold and Peterson and end of island catch basins.
30. Recycle 900 block of Arkansas and pave.
31. Recycle 10th St from Missouri to Arkansas and pave.
32. Pave W6th Terr.
33. Concrete patching of Holiday Dr.
34. Curb repair for 2012 mill and overlay
35. Rebuild the culvert at Lawrence Ave. on Bob Billings Pkwy. And rebuild wing walls.
36. Repaired the sidewalks at the Senior Center.
37. Concrete repair Cedarwood Dr.
38. Foundation demolition at the Farmland site.
39. Repaired the wing walls on the culvert at Lawrence Ave and Harvard Rd.
40. Rebuilt the retaining wall on Lawrence Ave and Homestead Dr.
PROJECTS IN PROGRESS/PENDING
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More projects will be added to the list before the end of the year and we will be ready to fit them in our schedule. As always, we will be ready to do whatever needs done.
Some Interesting Numbers.
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Pothole Reports |
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Total Usage from 1/1 to 12/31 |
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Potholes reported on Hotline & phone |
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210.00 |
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Potholes reported on Wufoo (on-line reporting) |
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110.00 |
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DATE |
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Asphalt |
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Total Usage from 1/1 to 12/31 |
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Number of holes patched |
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6,041.00 |
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Tons of Hot mix used |
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448.51 |
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Tons of cold mix used |
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87.25 |
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Yards of Durapatch used |
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292.50 |
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Pounds of Crack Sealer used |
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92,390.00 |
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DATE |
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Sweeping |
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Total Usage from 1/1 to 12/31 |
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Tons of debris collected |
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7,249.00 |
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Miles Swept |
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8,234.00 |
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Acres Mowed |
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2,838.50 |
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DATE |
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Concrete |
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Total Usage from 1/1 to 12/31 |
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Yards of concrete place |
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1,375.00 |
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Feet of Curb |
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6,525.00 |
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DATE |
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Total Usage from 1/1 to 12/31 |
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Catch Basins rebuilt |
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37.00 |
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Catch Basins Cleared |
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648.00 |
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Feet of Pipe Cleared |
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2,441.00 |