Downtown Carson City work reveals much historic damage

A bit of Carson City’s history is buried beneath city streets.

The downtown corridor project to replace aging water and sewer pipes, narrow Carson Street, widen sidewalks and add other pedestrian-friendly features has unearthed some surprises.

While doing work on 3rd Street, which eventually will be closed to traffic and turned into Bob McFadden Plaza, three underground tanks were discovered.

The purpose of the tanks, found just west of Mom & Pop’s Diner, is unknown but were likely used for gasoline and heating oil, said Danny Rotter, engineering manager, Carson City Public Works department.

“Our first concern was soil contamination,” Rotter said, when the tanks were uncovered.

An expert was called in to inspect the site and said the soil was fine.

The city still is determining what to do with the tanks. Any piping that conflicts with nearby utilities will be removed, but the tanks will likely remain and be filled with grout to prevent any future problems, Rotter said.

In 2008, Carson City Redevelopment obtained a grant for a brownfield clean-up in the same general area due to soil contamination from Mercury Cleaners on Curry Street.

From that work, the city knew there was once two automotive outfits consecutively located at the spot nearby.

In the 1950s, the shop was Carson Motor Supply and in 1965 the same property was listed as Morris Motors Auto Repair, according to Rotter.

Q&D Construction Inc., the contractor on the downtown corridor project, also found a lateral sewer pipe from Mercury Cleaners running underneath the building where Bella Fiore Wine is located and out into 3rd Street.

“The building may have been built on top of it, we don’t know,” said Rotter.

Like the tanks, that sewer line won’t be removed.

While not totally a surprise, the condition of some of the 50 or so year-old sewer pipes removed and replaced from underneath the side streets connecting to Carson Street still were a shock.

“The line has had a large number of leaks over the years,” Rotter said.

The water pipes, too, were made of steel and are being replaced with PVC plastic pipes.

The new water line underneath Carson Street between William and Robinson streets has been certified and this week is being tested between Robinson and Musser streets.

“Once Robinson to Musser is approved and is live, we’ll test Musser to Fifth and place into service,” said Rotter.

Staff from the city and the contractor plan to hold another open informational meeting for downtown businesses in about a month.

By then, they plan to be able to update the businesses on the final leg of the project, when Carson Street has to be closed down to be repaved.

Initially the plan was to close the entire stretch of Carson Street from William to 5th streets for 10 days in order to save time and money, but business have pushed back on that, said Rotter.

So Q&D and city staff are working on alternatives to complete the paving, possibly by doing it in sections and closing shorter stretches of the road for fewer days each but over a longer period of time or by closing down half the road while its paved.