Report Report: Week of Sept. 6

Construction season is here, so we’re giving you a weekly look at what projects are done, where you’ll find traffic impacts and what’s scheduled next.

What’s done

Oxbow Avenue at 49th Street has reopened to traffic.

Ralph Rogers Road at Minnesota Avenue is scheduled to reopen today, weather permitting.

What’s underway

Work has started on a retrofit cathodic protection project on 26th between Sertoma Avenue and Marion Road. What does that mean? Much of the soil in the Sioux Falls area is corrosive in nature to metals. Our ductile iron water main piping, installed from the late 1970s through the early 1990s, is susceptible to corrosion.

Over the past two decades, there have been numerous street reconstruction projects that have been driven by the need to replace the ductile iron water main.

The segment of water main on 26th Street has been identified as a good candidate for cathodic protection because it does not have a history of water main breaks and is still in good condition. The project involves installing sacrificial anodes along the length of the project. These anodes are designed so the corrosive soils will exchange ions with the anode bags instead of the water main, thus reducing corrosion of the water main and extending its lifespan.

There’s your #science lesson of the day!

The anode bags are 5 feet tall and will be installed every 20 feet or so.

Three testing stations will be installed along the project as well. These will allow the city to monitor the condition of the water main by running an electrical current through it. Work is expected to be complete in October

What’s next

Bahnson Avenue will be reduced to one lane between 20th Street and Comet Road this week to allow crews to perform sewer repairs. Traffic will be maintained with flaggers. Work is expected to take a couple of days.