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.