Public Works preparing to patch Penticton Avenue pipeline

PENTICTON – Residents living in the upper Penticton Avenue area are preparing for several weeks of road construction as the city replaces a section of the large water main connecting Okanagan Lake to the city’s water treatment plant.

Work is scheduled to start Monday at 7 a.m.

“We are moving ahead quickly and hope to be done by March 15,” City of Penticton communications officer Simone Blais says.

Blais says the section of pipe being replaced is not very long — approximately 200 metres of a total length of 5.2 kilometres.

A break in the line, noticed in early 2014, resulted in an examination of surrounding pipe which revealed considerable pitting and corrosion on the 900 millimetre diameter pipeline.

Blais said city engineers were “a little surprised” to find such advanced corrosion in a pipe that had been installed in 1996.

“An analysis of the soil in that area determined natural soil conditions to be the cause,” Blais says. “The testing revealed the problem was of a local nature and corrosion measures will be put in place to protect the new section.”

She says once the project is complete a thorough assessment of the water line will be done to ensure there aren’t any other corrosive pockets along the rest of the line.

During the replacement work, Blais advised there will be impacts to residents.

"We have distributed information packages and advised those in the area of safety precautions and disruption which may occur,” Blais says. The very east end of Penticton Avenue will be reduced to single lane during the construction period. Access to all residents will be maintained, but the dog park at the intersection to the water treatment plant will be closed for the duration of construction.

There are no planned utility disruptions in the area during the water main replacement.

To contact the reporter for this story, email Steve Arstad at sarstad@infonews.ca or call 250-488-3065. To contact the editor, email mjones@infonews.ca or call 250-718-2724.

Steve Arstad

I have been looking for news in the South Okanagan - SImilkameen for 20 years, having turned a part time lifelong interest into a full time profession. After five years publishing a local newsletter, several years working as a correspondent / stringer for several local newspapers and seven years as editor of a Similkameen weekly newspaper, I joined iNFOnews.ca in 2014. My goal in the news industry has always been to deliver accurate and interesting articles about local people and places. My interest in the profession is life long - from my earliest memories of grade school, I have enjoyed writing.
As an airborne geophysical surveyor I travelled extensively around the globe, conducting helicopter borne mineral surveys.
I also spent several years at an Okanagan Falls based lumber mill, producing glued-wood laminated products.
As a member of the Kaleden community, I have been involved in the Kaleden Volunteer Fire Department for 22 years, and also serve as a trustee on the Kaleden Irrigation District board.
I am currently married to my wife Judy, of 26 years. We are empty-nesters who enjoy living in Kaleden with our Welsh Terrier, Angus, and cat, Tibbs.
Our two daughters, Meagan and Hayley, reside in Richmond and Victoria, respectively.

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