First – Seattle Public Utilities sends word that it’s replacing 80 feet of an 8-inch sewer mainline pipe that collapsed above Alki, on 53rd SW between Hobart and Halleck SW (map). It’s just mailed notifications to nearby residents. Service won’t be interrupted to people who live nearby – a temporary bypass line is going in right now – but in addition to replacing the line, SPU also will replace a stairway. The work is expected to last till the end of January, and SPU says it may involve some weekend work. Why did the pipe collapse? Here’s the reply from SPU’s Marnie McGrath: “This is a vitrified clay pipe that was built in 1922. Due to the age of the material, there was a crack in the joint that was made greater by the stormy weather. A void formed in the soil between the stair and the pipe below it, and the pipe and stair collapsed.”

Second – another update on the major gas-line replacement work that’s been under way in Westwood and Fauntleroy, installing almost two miles of this plastic piping to replace aging metal:

(WSB photo from November 2008)
When we last spoke with Puget Sound Energy for this November followup, spokesperson Christina VerHeul expected they would be done by the end of December. As everyone who drives in the area knows, that didn’t happen. VerHeul called us today after reading a recent WSB comment asking what was up; she says the snow and ice set them back, and now they’re expecting to be done by mid-February — with the actual gas-line replacement work finished within the next two weeks or so, and road restoration work, “with a much smaller crew,” taking two to three weeks beyond that.