The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
More valves, drilling under the river, roundabout
By Mark Reaman
A new surge of work on the water and sewer utility lines between Crested Butte and the Whetstone community housing project near Brush Creek along Highway 135 is expected to start this week. Given the substandard work performed by a subcontractor installing the line last summer, local contractor Spallone Construction Inc. is upgrading the line and work near the Slate River and the wetlands near the intersection of Brush Creek Road and the highway. That work is scheduled to begin this week followed by work near the Crested Butte Community School.
Gunnison County assistant county manager for operations and sustainability John Cattles said despite local rumors, the entire line does not have to be dug up and replaced, but there are sections that need more work than others.
“A directional driller will be starting (this) week to drill under the river to replace that section of water line,” he said. “So, there were a couple of areas that needed to be replaced in the river and the wetlands but not the whole thing. We have not had to dig up everything. We did have to redo a section in the wetland this winter that was damaged. Spallone is now going down the line and installing valves that were always planned, along with a few new ones that we’ve added to make maintenance and testing easier.”
Cattles said the Spallone crews are also inspecting and testing the line along the way. He said they will soon go back to the connection to the town main south of the school and finish that connection which was not completed last fall. “We expect all of the pipe and connections to be complete by June at the latest and then flushing and testing will take several weeks after that,” he explained.
When asked about the cost of the redundant work, Cattles was clear Gunnison County is not on the hook. “The county is not paying anything for the rework or for any other costs attributed to the utility connection including any delays if that were to happen. All of those costs are being absorbed by the GC, (Moss Construction), the original sub-contractor (Mountain Concrete Group) and each of their insurance and performance bonds. The county is well protected with our contract agreements on this project,” he said.
Reclamation and planting efforts for the disturbed area are scheduled to begin in May. A statement from the county promised that contractors are coordinating closely with the U.S. Geological Survey and the Upper Gunnison River Water Conservancy District to ensure that all monitoring systems are protected and restored as needed. While some equipment will be temporarily present in the river during restoration activities, these impacts are short-term and part of a structured reclamation plan.
Ahead of schedule
As for the rest of the Whetstone project, the mild winter has helped keep the construction ahead of schedule and Cattles said the county is pleased with the quality of the work.
He said the hope is start work on the Brush Creek roundabout at some point this summer with the majority of the work slated for 2027. “We are doing everything we can to get that work started this summer, but we are at the mercy of the state and federal Departments of Transportation offices permitting and releasing the work. At this point we are still on track to start this summer. The underpass would be the first phase of the project with the rest of the roundabout completed in 2027.”
