(Map courtesy Seattle Public Utilities)
Busy week for utility-related projects in West Seattle – along with the advisories recapped in our daily traffic watch, here’s the explanation of drilling activity you might notice later this week:

Seattle Public Utilities (SPU) will conduct soil testing as part of the SW Orleans St Sewer Replacement Project which will repair the sewer mainline in the SW Orleans St right-of-way, west of the intersection with 30th Ave SW. We will use the results of these soil tests to help us replace the sewer line next year.

Soil tests allow us to determine current underground conditions around the existing sewer line. A crew will drill 15 to 20 foot deep holes to take soil samples. After taking samples they will fill the holes and restore the surface. At one location they will install a groundwater monitoring well. The map on the back of this page shows the two drilling locations.

Work is expected to begin on January 14th and will take one to two days. Normal work hours will be between 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. After the drilling, we will be onsite periodically to measure groundwater levels in the monitoring well.

There will be two drilling locations in the public right-of-way as shown on the (above) map. The crew will work in one work area at a time.