SANDPOINT — Progress on repairing the failing culvert on North Boyer Road is moving as expected, with the city is still targeting late September reopening of the road, according to Sandpoint Public Works Director Holly Ellis.

The city is working with JUB Engineering to analyze the movement and management of water for both the street and culvert. JUB worked alongside Strata, a Geotech engineering company, to finalize the drawings of the new culvert. 

"We have our final concept, with our final concept we have our pipe size, so I was on the phone with the vendors this morning to purchase the pipe,” Ellis said. “All the pieces are coming together.” 

Ellis said the pipe is the one critical path item that the city is waiting on before construction can begin. She said she hopes to hear back from the supplier of the pipe by the end of next week, which will provide an even clearer timeline. 

Sandpoint is contracting Advanced Dirt Works, a local company, for the construction of the culvert. The city is also meeting with local utility companies due to water and gas lines being in the area. 

“They’ve done other culverts for us before,” Ellis said of Advanced Dirt Works. “We meet weekly to check in and keep the progress of the project moving,” 

There is a pre-construction meeting set for next week, where all the partners on the project will meet on site and start that construction process. Ellis said that once the materials and equipment arrive, they will begin to remove the asphalt, rock and water from the area. 

Ellis said that city is continuing to work through the permitting process with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Idaho Department of Lands and Idaho Department of Water Resources. "We do not anticipate that we will have formal approval from the Army Corps or IDWR because this is an emergency project,” Ellis said. “We are going to bring them along through the project ... we are doing a hybrid where we are going to work through the construction process."

The section of North Boyer Road just after the fairgrounds was closed in early June, shortly after the city identified that the culvert’s condition was quickly deteriorating. Ellis said July 16 that reopening the section of the road is a priority for the city and they are working to replace it as quickly as they can.