July 23, 2021 3:30 a.m.

Crews working with the City of Roseburg will begin the Washington Avenue bore extension project along the South Umpqua River on Monday.

A release said the project, which will replace a 12-inch-diameter steel water distribution pipe that was installed inside the Washington Avenue Bridge in 1976, will require the closure of the parking lot at Riverside Park. That lot is on Spruce Street between Douglas and Oak streets. It will be closed until about November 15th.

Roseburg Civil Engineer Daryn Anderson said the 3.25-acre park on the river’s east bank will remain open.

A consultant, McMillen Jacobs Associates, has contracted with the City to design a 740-foot river bore crossing that will install the equivalent 14-inch high-density plythylene pipe under the South Umpqua River between the Oak Avenue and Washington Avenue bridges.

The release said the installation will use horizontal directional drilling methods that bore 15 to 20 feet beneath the riverbed to avoid disturbing aquatic life in the river. The project design team consulted with the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife on the project.

The project will also include about 380 feet of new 12-inch ductile iron connection piping.

Call the Public Works Department at 492-6730 for more information.