2018 Update #50
Breakthrough on 2; Lazarus Park?
On an unusually warm and sunny Wednesday morning, the Tunnel Boring Machine completed its 152-foot journey under Main Street to Receiving Pit 2, the southern arm of the drainage system located trackside behind Triangle Park.
The photo below shows the cutting head of the TBM sitting about 5 feet into Receiving Pit 2 shortly after breaking through the ledge that sits between Printer’s Alley and Triangle Park.
This second of the three planned tunnels comprising the new drainage system was completed in just 9 drilling days, compared with the 16 days it took to drill from the Launch Pit to the outfall in Riverfront Park. ECI and Robbins learned from their experience on that first run and it helped that the second run was entirely in bedrock. This won’t be the case with the third and final run to Receiving Pit 3, where bedrock turns to a mix of rock and clay about 100 feet in.
After completing its journey, the TBM was lifted by crane onto a flatbed truck and returned to ECI’s shop for maintenance. Mid-week next week ECI expects to begin drilling the tunnel connecting the Launch Pit to Receiving Pit 3, the northern arm of the new drainage system located alongside the rail line in the Marble Works. That tunnel will be 139 feet long.
Kubricky continues to excavate Receiving Pit 3, a decidedly messy undertaking as they patiently excavate 22 feet down through water-soaked clay.
Paving Fix on Main Street Bridge
Kubricky will take a few hours next week to fix the humped pavement that’s developed as you drive across Main Street’s temporary bridge headed west. One lane at a time will be closed during the repair work, which will likely take place on Thursday or Friday next week.
Honoring the Lazarus Family
At its regularly scheduled Tuesday meeting, the Selectboard heard a request from Judy Olinick, accompanied by Scott and Marilyn Needham, that the new park to be built in Printer’s Alley be named Lazarus Park in honor of the Lazarus family, owners of the department store that formerly occupied the Duclos Building on Main Street (now the National Bank of Middlebury) and whose annex sat alongside Printer’s Alley.
Opened in 1911 as the Middlebury Supply Company, the business was taken over by Stan Lazarus in 1946, who subsequently renamed it Lazarus Department Store in 1950. The store closed in 1996.
As reported in the July 26, 2018 edition of The Addison Independent, a petition has been circulating among citizens in support of the recommendation.
The Selectboard agreed to add public discussion of the request to its November 27 meeting.
A Final Salute to the Water Brigade
Our downtown planters and flower boxes still needed watering as September turned to October. This work was done by Kerry Mulcahy at the National Bank of Middlebury, Beth Stanway at IPJ Real Estate, and George Klohck from the Middlebury United Methodist Church.
Our sincere thanks to these volunteers and a special thank you to the Town of Middlebury’s gardener extraordinaire, Lily Snow, who has been so helpful throughout this long construction season.
That’s all for today. See you downtown.
Please keep your comments and questions coming. Send me an email at jgish@townofmiddlebury.org and I’ll try to cover it in my next update.