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City of Kelso
Street Department
PROGRAM DESCIPTION
The Street Departments main priority is to ensure that all Kelso
streets and alleys are as safe as possible for the public. We accomplish
this in a variety of ways; these are examples of a few of those.
1.) Overlay preparation for 13 year program
2.) Through the use of citizen concern forms
3.) Reconnaissance of known problem areas
4.) Council concerns
The Department is also responsible for all rock shoulders and curb
and gutter maintenance .There are approximately 100 miles +/- of
asphalt streets in the City of Kelso and about 50% are curb and
gutter with the remaining 50%being rock shoulders. There are also
10 miles +/- of improved alleys (rocked and travelable) and around
2 miles of unimproved alleys (not passable by vehicle traffic).
Some of the duties as a team that we undertake are hot mix repair
of water and sewer cuts, fixing base issues that are starting to
show thru the surface, crack sealing for preventative maintenance
and temporary pot hole repair with cold products. Preparing the
list of roads for the yearly overlay project which includes all
of the above plus other tasks such as cold planning high areas and
pre-leveling the low spots for better ride ability.
Alleys are the next priority for us. They can be a simple cut down
and re-build or total reconstruction. The reason we have such a
high interest in the alley system is that they are very important
to emergency vehicles to do there jobs successfully and we rely
on input from these sources as to what and where it would help them
and also through the above mentioned styles.
Rock shoulders are next on our list. The reason being they can
make or break our road system. For example if the shoulder is too
high it will not allow the water to run away from the road edges
and cause over saturation in the base and the edges will begin to
break down, and on the other hand if the shoulders are to low they
would not protect the asphalt edges and they will begin to break
down as well from traffic, also there will be standing water issues
possible from both scenarios that will have negative affects on
the road and its base.
Concrete curb and gutters are next on the schedule for the team.
These are very supportive pieces of our infrastructure. First they
give a very finished look to an area, but even more importantly,
they give our road edges the protection they need from water and
people driving on the edges and creating weak spots or shoulder
breaks. The main goal is to keep them clean with the use of a sweeper
(currently under contract with Cowlitz Clean Sweep) keep them as
close to water tight as possible and last to replace them when needed.
This department is also responsible for all tree trimming in all
road related areas and hazardous tree removal from wind storms,
all snow and ice removal either by plow or the new preventive de-icer
program.
City of Kelso
Storm Water Division
PROGRAM DESCRIPTION
The storm water division's main objective is to ensure that the
current drainage system operates in the most effective way possible
to ensure life loss and property damage is kept to a minimum. We
accomplish this through a variety of ways, these are the three main
examples of that.
1.) Inspection (Video and manual)
2.) Cleaning and repair(maintenance style)
3.) Installation of new system (catch basins and/or pipe)
The storm water division maintains approximately 1200 catch basins
and about 28 miles of pipe that range from 6" to 56" as
well as approximately 500 manholes. In 2006, this department received
approximately 25 CCF ranging from leaves over the grate to major
separations like 7th and Chestnut.
Inspection
The first step in a successful program is to know what the problem
is. This is best accomplished through video inspection. If the issue
appears to be the line then the decision is made to repair or replace.
If the problem is basin or manhole failure, then the same decision
must be made.
Cleaning and Repair
This is a very important part of the process. It is also one of
our programs. The program states that if given the time it would
require approximately 300 hours per year if a 5 year program is
acceptable it is also a equipment specific job as it requires the
vactor and one service truck and at least two technicians, more
depending on areas. It is also part of the inspection process as
you clean you make notes on catch basin condition, ring and grate
type and condition as well as pipe size, type and condition. This
is where repair notes come in and we schedule to fix the problems
whether they are ring and grate or catch basin or pipe. As for the
repair, that is another program that we have in place. We have a
ring and grate replacement plan where we replace 10 ring and grates
per year (at a cost of $205.36 per set) that are in high foot traffic
areas and are the biggest liability to the City of Kelso.
Installation of New Systems
This area of our department is tied in very tightly with Engineering
and is generated from CCF's as well as known problematic areas.
For example, in 2002 the crew installed 1500 feet of 12" shurlock
pipe, 5 manholes and 12 catch basins on Division Street and Home
Court. In 2005, we installed 400"feet of open ditch and cleaned
6 cross culverts on Walnut and successfully removed most all standing
water from that surface. Also in 2005 we installed 1500 feet of
ditch line at the south end of the airport that have been draining
the lower area very well ever since.
Street Department Accomplishments
2005 & 2006
Customer Concern Forms responded to in 2006
53 concerns
Miles of Crack seal completed
(lane miles)in 2006 11Miles
Total hrs of snow and ice prevention and removal approximate hrs
per year: 400 hours
Total feet of alley and shoulder work completed approximately 4,500
feet
Total feet of curb and gutter repair and replace
150 feet
Total hours of tree trimming
400 hours
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