by John Millikin and Dave Anglin

Garney Construction, the County’s contractor, worked on Monday, January 20 which is Martin Luther King Jr. Day, a federal holiday. Garney will follow Fairfax County’s Noise Ordinance for federal holidays, i.e., no construction related noise in the community before 9 am.

The contractor ran into very unstable soils January 13-16 (marine clay and ground water have been issues) while trying to complete the new sanitary sewer main and lateral connections. They returned to the bottom of the hill (near Hayfield Pool) and began work on the new conveyance system outfall and plunge pool Friday January 17. Then, they continue this work up the hill based on the design plan. When the work progresses to the same point as where the sanitary is temporarily halted, the contractor will resume and complete the sanitary work along with the new storm pipe installation. The new sanitary main extends to the final house fronting on Hayfield Road at Bridgewater Court

Titan Tree Care was scheduled to perform root/limb pruning on Monday January 20 only for trees between Hayfield Road dead end by the pool and Broadmoor Street on the Hayfield Road median. This aligns with the project plans to preserve the trees on the median strip. This work is similar to previously described pruning the above grade tree limbs to remove work obstacles and to protect the trees while the contractor opens the road to install the box culvert sections. This root/limb pruning is a similar plant health management effort occurring in the underground root zone. This is work will provide best efforts to protect the health of the trees closest to the open excavation. Recall that one of Fairfax County’s arborists met with Garney’s arborist to review the work and discuss best management practices prior to beginning work. Also see the attached document (root-pruning.pdf) for details about root pruning.The contractor ran into very unstable soils January 13-16 (marine clay and ground water have been issues) while trying to complete the new sanitary sewer main and lateral connections. They returned to the bottom of the hill (near Hayfield Pool) and began work on the new conveyance system outfall and plunge pool Friday January 17. Then, they continue this work up the hill based on the design plan. When the work progresses to the same point as where the sanitary is temporarily halted, the contractor will resume and complete the sanitary work along with the new storm pipe installation. The new sanitary main extends to the final house fronting on Hayfield Road at Bridgewater Court.

It is far better to have a dedicated effort to cleanly cut the roots rather than have this occur during actual excavation work. This is driven almost exclusively by the 7’x4’ box culvert installation. The excavation becomes less of an issue when Garney switches over to the 48” pipe (beyond the Hayfield Road and Broadmoor Street intersection) as the work moves toward Telegraph Road. It becomes a non-issue after the sanitary main work is complete.

Questions and Answers

  1. Are truck deliveries continuing on Saturdays?
    1. Eight semi-truck deliveries were scheduled for Saturday, January 18. The Jan. 18 and Feb. 25 deliveries are postponed. Future box culvert and 48” reinforced concrete pipe deliveries will be announced later when the schedule is confirmed.
  2. What is the status of new sanitary sewer connections?
    1. Sixteen houses now have sanitary sewer connections completed; seven houses remain to be connected, assuming that #7710 has not yet been connected.
  3. What is estimated date to begin installing box culvert sections?
    1. Garney Construction began work on January 17 to install box culvert sections under Hayfield Road near the Hayfield Pool in conjunction with work on the outfall and plunge pool, i.e., Friday January 17.
  4. Where can I find more information about root pruning?
    1. See the “RESEARCH LABORATORY TECHNICAL REPORT”.