A Las Vegas Paving crew installs the final coating of asphalt along a stretch of Moapa Valley Boulevard in Logandale last week as the sewer line project comes to an end. Photo by Mike Donahue.

By Mike Donahue

Moapa Valley Progress

After more than 18 months of extra dust, delays and discontent for local residents, Las Vegas Paving is just days away from completing the Moapa Valley sewer line project running from Overton to Logandale.

“Just about the only thing left to do is road striping,” said Jake Marshall, Las Vegas Paving project manager. “We should be able to get the lines down by the middle of next week (the end of June) and we’ll be finished.”

The $14.7 million construction project kicked off in December 2009 and was expected to be completed after a year, December 2010.

However, due to several rain delays, change orders and several other factors including contaminated ground water in a couple of areas the company was unable to finish installing the major line until the end of March 2011, Marshall said.

“There was really no rush to finish in December 2010 because we couldn’t have installed the last coat until it warmed up,” he said.

Finally, the major installation work was completed and while the company was ready to finish the job by late April, Mother Nature refused to cooperate.

“The last coat (called open grade) is really temperature dependent,” Marshall explained. “It requires a minimum temperature of 70 degrees and rising when we start putting it down. Well, we’ve really had a crazy spring that hasn’t been very accommodating and we’ve been unable to get started. The summer is finally upon us and we just recently have been getting the conditions necessary to complete the work.”

The high water table locally was one of the biggest impediments to the project. Crews were forced to drill a series of drainage wells from which groundwater was pumped to prepare for the deep trench necessary to install the 24-36-inch line.

Once the groundwater was removed, Las Vegas Paving was able to maintain a fairly consistent pace installing the sewer line which started at Lewis Avenue in downtown Overton and finished at the Lyman curve in Logandale on Moapa Valley Boulevard.

Workers installed stub outs to all the properties along the length of the line and in October last year closed Yamashita Bridge to attach the 36-inch line to cross the Muddy River on the south side of the overpass.

Las Vegas Paving installed a new travel lane during construction and many residents expressed a desire to see it remain. However, although some of the extra lane will be left in place, Marshall said because of safety issues, the company is removing it and pulverizing the material.

“It was installed only as a temporary lane,” Marshall said. “It is really not adequate for a travel lane so we’re taking some of it out.”