The unusual amount of precipitation received within the city of Bismarck since early September has created unexpected difficulties and delays with street and underground utility construction projects. “This year has been a very busy year and we’ve been working to keep on pace with the rapid growth taking place in Bismarck,” said Mel Bullinger, Bismarck City Engineer. “We’ve got a lot of projects that got off to a late start due to the wet spring weather in addition to street work carried over from last season, and the usual street rehabilitation and resurfacing projects to complete. In this year alone, the City was under contract to resurface 13.8 miles of City streets and to reconstruct another 6.5 miles,” said Bullinger. “In addition, as of October 1st the City has processed 62 new sub-divisions that are in various stages of approval, nearly three times as many as we did in 2011.” New development areas will likely be the most affected by weather related delays.

“When colder temperatures arrive for the season and the ground is frozen we will not be able to accomplish street paving in all areas; alternatives become very limited,” said Bullinger. In prior years, paving operations typically cease in early November due to the cold weather or snowfall. “We want people to know that it’s likely they won’t see pavement on all the streets that they’d like or that we’d scheduled to complete,” continued Bullinger. In some instances, it may be necessary to install gravel surfacing on the affected roadways as a temporary measure, until the 2014 construction season.

There will also be locations where driveways are expected and desired, but where weather conditions may prohibit construction this season. In some newly developing sub-divisions the underground utility installation has been affected by the rains, which in turn will delay the start of the installation of the curb and gutter, driveways and asphalt pavement.

We ask residents for their patience as we make every attempt to complete as many projects as possible before winter sets in.