Cut administration /restoration

A review of the pavement and boulevard restoration process is below.

Scheduling

Restoration work commences in the Spring when the frost has left the ground and continues until freeze up in October/November.

Each year permanent restoration is targeted for all permits issued between August 1^st of the preceding year and August 1^st of the current year. Permits that are issued after August 1^st may be carried over to the following year, unless favorable conditions permit their restoration in the current year.

Currently, boulevard and pavement restorations (roads, sidewalks, lanes) are done by separate entities, these being the private sector and public forces respectively.

Excavations are scheduled for permanent restoration with consideration to the following:

• Boulevard excavations made by the Water Services Division must be flooded and tamped by that Division. See Clean-up after repairs.
• Where pavement restoration and boulevard restoration is required at the same location, the pavement work may have to be completed first. Additionally, if the Water Services Division made the boulevard excavation, flood tamping may also be a prerequisite to the restoration.
• Locations that require only boulevard restoration and do not require "flood tamping" or have been flood tamped will receive prompt attention.
• Locations that require pavement only restoration will receive prompt attention (i.e. no flood tamping).

Significant impacts on scheduling of restoration

Water Services Division Boulevard Excavations

A special process commonly referred to as "flood tamping" is performed. See Clean-up after repairs. This process includes the jetting of water into the excavation and the drying of the soil followed by mechanical compaction in order to consolidate the soil and limit future settlement. This process can take approximately two months to complete.

Excavations that are ready for restoration are placed on lists referred to as "Rounds". The locations on each list are organized in a logical geographic order. During the Construction season each private/city crew will be given 3 to 4 lists and make a corresponding number of passes (rounds) of their designated areas. This method strikes a balance between efficiency and cost. It is more cost effective to eliminate travel but doing less passes would result in longer turn around times for some residents.

The flooding and tamping process cannot be carried out from October to May. Water tamping is scheduled to commence as soon as all frozen ground has thawed. Historically this has been late May or early June. Each spring when the flood tamping commences, all boulevard excavations to date that have not been flood tamped are included. This process repeats throughout the construction season at various intervals until inclement weather prohibits the operation, usually in September/October. When each location has been flood tamped it is identified as ready for restoration.

Flood tamping can have a significant impact on the time it takes to have excavations fully restored. Example: A Water Services Division combined boulevard and pavement excavation is made in the fall. The boulevard excavation is not flood tamped that year and subsequently is flood tamped in the late spring of the following year. The excavation is then considered ready for restoration and the pavement portion, which must be restored first, is assigned at the next available opportunity. Following notification of the completion of the pavement restoration the permit is reassigned at the next available opportunity for restoration of the boulevard portion.

Restorations - Boulevards

The restoration of boulevards is a three-step process:

1. The excavation is trimmed to a uniform shape (normally rectangular), and backfill material is removed or supplied to achieve proper grade;
2. The excavated area is filled with topsoil;
3. The area has sod applied. Note: sod may follow step 2 by 1-2 weeks, as it is common practice to perform the sod operation only when there is a large number of excavations ready for the sod.

30-Day Maintenance Period

All areas with sod or those seeded are subject to a 30-day maintenance period. At the end of the maintenance period the restorations are inspected for acceptance. Deficiencies are corrected at the expense of the contractor. Major deficiencies such as the replacement of dead sod normally result in the maintenance period being recommenced.

Completion dates

Each restoration list has an estimated completion date. Every permit on the list is assigned this estimated completion date on a Permit Tracking System. For scheduled restorations the estimated completion date information is available by contacting 311.

Delays

If your excavation is not restored by a previously provided completion date the date may have been revised.

The weather is the most significant factor affecting restorations. A few days of rain or a heavy rainfall can compound delays as it may take several days for the excavation to dry enough to permit restoration to proceed.

The majority of the sod used in the City is supplied from farms in the Portage La Prairie area. Wet weather also prevents the harvesting of sod. As harvested sod is not easily stored, days of rain will back up delivery orders.

Materials removed from the excavation site are normally hauled to suitable disposal sites (e.g. the Brady Road Landfill). Significant rainfall can prevent access to dumping sites.