Rampart sewer project completion pushed back to June

The Rampart Boulevard sewer project has many residents wondering when it will be done. At least one reported to View that he “never” sees workers at the site.

Ward 3 Las Vegas City Councilman Bob Beers said the project has hit a glitch here or there, but it was being addressed.

“I saw a full crew working on it yesterday,” Beers said Nov. 19. “They have fenced off the area under active construction right now (on Rampart Boulevard), from Hillpointe (Road) to Vegas (Drive), and often park their cars along the inside edges of the fence, which makes it hard to see beyond the parked cars into the work area.”

The number of people working on the project varies widely from day to day, Beers said, depending on the tasks of the day.

The project began Aug. 4, when TAB Contractors Inc., the construction company, received the notice to proceed. The $12 million project is installing a new 24-inch sewer pipe, extending from Alta Drive to Lake Mead Boulevard. Expected completion was set at about 11 months.

The project includes several sections where the contractor tunnels under large, existing infrastructure, such as golf course tunnels and flood control facilities. This tunneling is completed by jacking and boring. In Phase II, one of those jack and bore sections was not completed to match the plans and had to be revised.

The misalignment was discovered immediately upon completion of the boring Oct. 21 and was confirmed by survey the next day. The project was ahead of schedule by about three weeks at that time. The correction took two weeks.

“This work was completed predominantly by hand in a deep trench, so there may have been an impression that there was no work on site; however, there was a limited amount of labor and equipment working to correct the alignment of the sleeve,” said Kristina Swallow, acting city engineer. “(It’s) been completed, and the work has picked up again as the contractor works to install and backfill the sewer line just north of Vegas Drive near the golf course maintenance entrance.”

Most recently, a second jack and bore operation to cross the golf course tunnel experienced another setback Nov. 17, when a rock became wedged between the sleeve and the auger, causing substantial damage to the auger. The subcontractor was working to repair the damage and replace the auger and was scheduled to return to work on the jack and bore sleeve later that week.

“If the jack and bore sleeve is not installed prior to the sewer line installation heading south, there may be another slowdown to allow the jack and bore sleeve to be completed prior to work on the sewer line progressing south to Vegas Drive,” Swallow said.

The new line does not take the place of the old one, as both lines will be used. The new line under construction will deliver additional flows to the treatment facility at Durango Drive and Cheyenne Avenue. This will allow the city to treat the water and provide it as additional reclaimed water for irrigation of golf courses and other facilities in the northwest valley, reducing their demands on the potable water supply.

Phase I involved Rampart between Lake Mead and Hillpointe. The project is currently in Phase II, which began in October, with work on Rampart between Hillpointe and Vegas. Phase III is scheduled for December through February (Rampart between Vegas and the north off-ramps from Summerlin Parkway). Phase IV is planned for February through March (Rampart between Summerlin Parkway north off-ramps and Canyon Run Drive). Phase V, originally set for March through May but now with an expected end date in June, will complete the project along Rampart between Canyon Run and Alta drives.

Funds for the project were provided by the city of Las Vegas Sanitation Fund and the Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada.

For more information, call 702-229-6272.

Contact Summerlin Area View reporter Jan Hogan at jhogan@viewnews.com or 702-387-2949.