MONROE - The final concrete is being laid this week, but the final date for finishing the streetscape on the Square still is unknown.
"We're not going to make the Nov. 15 completion date. Don't forget, they had a three- to four-week delay getting started, but they're making good progress," said Ryan Wilson with Fehr-Graham & Associates, the engineering firm overseeing the project.
Wilson said weather will play a big part in the last days of construction.
The three or four days of good weather this week helped to get the inner ring done, he said.
The outer ring was opened completely Nov. 3, and was celebrated along with the illuminating of the new antique-style street lights. The goal was to have the outer ring finished by the end of October.
Eight more street lights on the inside circle have yet to be installed.
"It could be that the lights will be installed even before they're done laying concrete," Wilson said.
The trees around the Square already have been decorated with strings of light, ready for the holiday season.
"They are just waiting on a part for those, before they turn them on," Wilson said.
The inner ring work was expected to take about two to three weeks, but cold weather and rain early in construction threatened to delay the work, because concrete needs the temperature to be warmer than 40 degrees.
But on Oct. 12, the Board of Public Works authorized spending up to $32,000 to purchase materials needed to pour concrete during cold weather, including warm water, chemicals and coverings. Savings in other areas of the project budget offset the cost.
The added effort did not guarantee the inner rings would be finished by the end of the year, but gave construction crews a broader window of opportunity.
By Nov. 3, Tom Purdy, community development specialist with Fehr-Graham & Associates, reported to the Monroe Common Council that construction crews would have no problems finishing up the project.
Subcontractors were standing by to start pouring cement in two strips on the inner ring the day after the outer ring opened. The subcontractor would follow close behind the crews of general contractor, E&N Hughes Company Inc., who were tearing out the last two sides - south and east - of the inner circle.
E&N Hughes started the project April 1 with a new water main installation in the 1700 block of 10th Avenue. Almost immediately, they found they were hitting rock in the virgin ground.
A $4.1 million state loan for the project will be paid back by tax increment finance district No. 7 funds. E&N Hughes bid $2.1 million for the general contract on the streets, sidewalks and utility work.
The entire project included constructing barrier walls in open coal bins, a new water line, major street work and the post-street construction work of installing street lights, trees, landscaping, benches, trash bins and directional signs.
"We're not going to make the Nov. 15 completion date. Don't forget, they had a three- to four-week delay getting started, but they're making good progress," said Ryan Wilson with Fehr-Graham & Associates, the engineering firm overseeing the project.
Wilson said weather will play a big part in the last days of construction.
The three or four days of good weather this week helped to get the inner ring done, he said.
The outer ring was opened completely Nov. 3, and was celebrated along with the illuminating of the new antique-style street lights. The goal was to have the outer ring finished by the end of October.
Eight more street lights on the inside circle have yet to be installed.
"It could be that the lights will be installed even before they're done laying concrete," Wilson said.
The trees around the Square already have been decorated with strings of light, ready for the holiday season.
"They are just waiting on a part for those, before they turn them on," Wilson said.
The inner ring work was expected to take about two to three weeks, but cold weather and rain early in construction threatened to delay the work, because concrete needs the temperature to be warmer than 40 degrees.
But on Oct. 12, the Board of Public Works authorized spending up to $32,000 to purchase materials needed to pour concrete during cold weather, including warm water, chemicals and coverings. Savings in other areas of the project budget offset the cost.
The added effort did not guarantee the inner rings would be finished by the end of the year, but gave construction crews a broader window of opportunity.
By Nov. 3, Tom Purdy, community development specialist with Fehr-Graham & Associates, reported to the Monroe Common Council that construction crews would have no problems finishing up the project.
Subcontractors were standing by to start pouring cement in two strips on the inner ring the day after the outer ring opened. The subcontractor would follow close behind the crews of general contractor, E&N Hughes Company Inc., who were tearing out the last two sides - south and east - of the inner circle.
E&N Hughes started the project April 1 with a new water main installation in the 1700 block of 10th Avenue. Almost immediately, they found they were hitting rock in the virgin ground.
A $4.1 million state loan for the project will be paid back by tax increment finance district No. 7 funds. E&N Hughes bid $2.1 million for the general contract on the streets, sidewalks and utility work.
The entire project included constructing barrier walls in open coal bins, a new water line, major street work and the post-street construction work of installing street lights, trees, landscaping, benches, trash bins and directional signs.