[Mintwood-place] RE: No Water in Kalorama Park

[Michael Valentine]

As per a conversation with Lester Foote, of Foote's Plumbing, trenching
equipment is not being used for at the referenced site for the following
reasons:
	1.	The trenching equipment could not be properly balanced on
the 
		slope along the trench route, which would result in an
unsafe 		condition.

	2.	Hand digging allows discretion by the workers to minimize
damage 		to the roots of the existing shrubs. The trenching equipment
is 		not as selective.

Mr. Foote also revealed that the minimum depth of placement for the piping
is 36". As added insurance, I have also requested installation of a bleed
valve so that DPR may include this site in their winterization schedule.  

Michael A. Valentine, RA
Senior Project Manager
The Temple Group, Inc.
1120 Connecticut Avenue, N.W., Suite #310
Washington, DC 20036
Telephone: 202-822-6600x244
Fax: 202-822-6603
e-mail: mvalentine at thetemplegroup.com

-----Original Message-----
From: John Cloud [mailto:John.Cloud at noaa.gov] 
Sent: Tuesday, June 28, 2005 1:04 PM
To: Stanley Neil (DPR)
Cc: 'Jim Graham'; 'Paul Chiland'; 'Neil Albert';
mintwood-place-bounces at lists.mutualaid.org; matthew_c._forman at hud.gov;
Hresko.joe at epamail.epa.gov; mintwood-place at lists.mutualaid.org; Johnson Earl
(DPR); Franklin-Kelly Lisa (DPR); mvalentine at thetemplegroup.com; Flowers
Kimberley (DPR); Rodgers Neil (DPR); John Cloud
Subject: Re: No Water in Kalorama Park

Folks:

I hate to be the perpetual Bad News Bear in these matters, but somebody
has to do it.

(1) Broken water faucet at Kalorama Park. 

This last weekend, with temperatures in the 90s, many people used the
one water source in the park, which is a faucet at the Rec Center that
opens with a square-key tool.  The good collective water key at the
Kalorama garden got pocketed, so people used their own keys, or pliers,
and the eroded corners of the faucet plug finally gave out. The water
keys no longer work, so now gardiners have to carry water from their
apartments.  DPR needs to replace the faucet or have it rebuilt--
without it, there is no accessible water source for the garden right
now, or the adjacent flower beds, or anything.  The faucet wore out
because people have had to hand carry water ot the garden for three
summers.

(2) New water line to the garden.

Foote's Plumbing has assigned two guys to dig the new water line
trench.  They started yesterday.  I've talked to them. It's hard labor--
at the rate they are going, it will take them days to dig the 50 yards
to the WASA service line location.  If Foote sent a Ditch-Witch crew out
the excavation would be done by this afternoon.  By the nature of a
hand-dug trench, they are going shallow, barely 1 foot below grade.  I
mean no fault of the workers at all.  Anybody digging a ditch by hand
would do the same. But:  the water line need to be buried below the
frost line.  Foote's Plumbing is being paid to build the water line to
code spec.  DPR must insure they dig the trench to spec.  Otherwise, if
the water line bursts in the winter we are back to no water line once
more.  
-- 
            _   _
           (o) (o)
     oOOO----(_)----OOOo---
         John Cloud
   Geographer/Writer/Editor
     NOAA Central Library
    1315 East-West Highway
   SSMC-3, 2nd Floor, E/OC4
   Silver Spring, MD 20910
   301-713-2607,  ext. 126
     John.Cloud at noaa.gov

             aussi:
     Chez Cloud Urbanique
     1915 Kalorama Rd. NW
            Apt. 603
     Washington, DC 20009
          202-277-4931