(WSB photo)
Even more heavy equipment is on site now at the combined-sewer overflow (CSO) control project across from Lowman Beach Park, officially known as the Murray CSO Project. As announced by the King County Wastewater Treatment District, crews are starting to build the outer wall of the facility’s million-gallon underground storage tank:

Crews will drill holes 80 feet into the ground and replace the soil with four-foot wide concrete cylinders. The cylinders are called secant piles.

The secant piles lock together to create a watertight ring. The ring will be nearly 100 feet wide. It will keep water out of the tank area while it is being dug and protect nearby utilities, roadways and private property from settlement. Installing the secant piles is expected to take four months.

Along with the tank site on the east side of Beach Drive SW, portable office trailers and other equipment and components are taking up a lot of space at Lowman, as the project-site map shows:

We took the top photo on Saturday, with no crews on site, which meant parking was OK on the east side of Beach, but it’s a different situation during the official work hours of 7 am-6 pm weekdays, so keep that in mind as we move toward the summer season – for example, if you are accustomed to getting to Colman Pool by parking at or near Lowman and walking along Lincoln Park’s south shore, you might need a different strategy on weekdays. Work on the tank facility and the pump station across the street is projected to last at least until mid-2016.