Avenue N project goes deep, wide
Glynis Crawford Smith/The Highlander
Contractors and engineers battle a geological anomaly in the path of Avenue N realignment in Marble Falls. A deeper trench, lined with special construction fabric will stabilize a pocket of material like quick sand encountered in the project.
By Glynis Crawford Smith
The Highlander
Work to realign Avenue N with in Marble Falls took a wider and deeper approach last week, after contractors discovered a geological hitch in plans for the $662,516 project.
The path of Avenue N north to Bluebonnet Drive at Ranch to Market Road 1431 was preceded by geotechnical surveys but core samples never struck a pocket of what city engineer Eric Belaj told the city council was like quick sand or toothpaste. The first estimate of the fix was $50,000, but that pricetag may be whittled by more than half.
Last week, demolition of Taco Casa was completed and heavy equipment delved a ditch for the road base much deeper than originally planned. Riprap was bound in wire cages to creat a gabion wall on the east side of the project along Backbone Creek. Meanwhile, the city worked with businesses that depend on Avenue N to keep access open as long as possible and with the Texas Department of Transportation to be sure new traffic signal instalation will coincide with street construction completion.
Read the story in the Tuesday, March 8, edition of The Highlander.
