Wastewater project moves ahead

Work on the $11 million upgrade to Havre's wastewater treatment plant is moving forward to an on-time completion.

Dave Peterson, the city's Public Works director, said the weather has been good and the contractor, Dick Anderson Construction Co. of Great Falls, has been moving forward,

Under the terms of the project, the work has to be "substantially complete," by the end of the year, but the company will have until next year to finish up the work.

If things continue the way they are, Peterson said, the project should be completed on time or even early.

The city will be "out of compliance" with state and federal environmental regulations if the project is not done by Jan. 1, it was explained.

Steven Swanson, the project engineer for Anderson, said the way things are going, the Jan. 1 deadline should be met with no problem.

The biggest success story so far is the completion of laying a gigantic concrete base for the project.

Three Havre contractors, Havre Ready Mix, Rock Solid Materials and Pasco Ready Mix combined efforts to get the cement to the project fast enough for the base of the tank that requires a 2-foot deep cement base that is 84 feet wide and 120 feet long.

Because of the stifling heat, weather which make it hard for the cement to cure properly, the project was done at night.

Work started at midnight and was completed by morning, he said. The three companies did outstanding work at providing a continuous flow of cement, Swanson said.