That workload will follow a busy 2016 construction season which saw the completion of the downtown part of the First Avenue South crosstown connector and some other projects.

The reconstruction of Second Avenue North, a two-year effort, wrapped up as the section between 15th and 18th streets received its final coat of asphalt.

Also during 2016, parts of 14 streets were resurfaced as part of the city’s annual paving project.

The parking lot at Sixth Street and First Avenue North was rebuilt in the past year as well.

-Messenger photo by Hans Madsen As crews work to place rocks in the background a worker carries surveying gear across Soldier Creek. The large project will stabilize the bank and move the creek away from the hill a bit further.

The pipelines beneath the city’s streets also received some attention during the past year.

Chad Schaeffer, the city’s director of engineering, business affairs and community growth, said the first phase of a sanitary sewer project in the area of Eighth Avenue South and 18th Street was completed. The project was a troubled one, and city officials dismissed the original contractor, Carstensen Contracting, of Pipestone, Minnesota, after its crews broke numerous gas mains and caused other damage.

Wicks Construction, of Decorah, was hired to take over the project. Schaeffer said the work will continue through 2017.

While the city engineers were frustrated with that project, they were very happy with another sanitary sewer related job.

The city has a series of lift stations which house pumps that force the wastewater through the sewers to the treatment plant. A new one was built on South 32nd Street in a project that was finished early and under budget.

-Messenger photo by Hans Madsen Crews temporarily diverted Soldier Creek away from the work site during the construction phase.

City Engineer Tony Trotter said that lift station was ”on time, under budget and works great.”

The new lift station has three pumps and is capable of moving 2,000 gallons of wastewater per minute. It replaced an older nearby lift station.

It was built by Rice Lake Construction, of Deerwood, Minnesota. It was $20,000 cheaper than the initial $3,994,400 cost.

Other sanitary sewer projects were completed along 20th Avenue North and Floral Avenue. Also, the Gypsum City Off-Highway Vehicle Park south of Fort Dodge was connected to the city’s sanitary sewer system.

In the past year, part of Snell-Crawford Park along Williams Drive was reshaped to combat erosion. A cliff that formed one side of the park was sculpted to become a smaller hill covered with plants.

-Messenger photo by Hans Madsen Crews workED at the top of the hill in Snell-Crawford Park on the project to help stabilize the large hill and redirect Soldier Creek away from its base.

Continuing a major effort to improve drainage in the eastern half of the city will be a priority this year. Schaeffer said the next phase of the East Region Storm Sewer Project will target South 29th Street.

He said a new storm sewer will be installed between the back of the Goodwill store at 2735 Fifth Ave. S. and Taco Tico at 319 S. 29th St. The intersection of Fifth Avenue South and 29th Street will be closed for 20 days while the storm sewer is replaced there, he added.

Rasch Construction Inc, of Fort Dodge, has already been hired by the City Council to do that work.

Also this year, a new sanitary sewer lift station in the Pleasant Valley neighborhood will be completed. Schaeffer said it is the main lift station that pumps wastewater to the treatment plant at 1801 Ave. B.

Additional sanitary sewer work is planned for the area near Avenue E and C Street. Crow River Construction, of New London, Minnesota, has a contract for that work.

In addition to the annual repaving project, the construction of a new street is planned for this year. That street will cross property commonly called the Theiss farm between Williams Drive and North 15th Street. The new street is intended to open the Theiss farm property for the construction of new houses.