Ask Now: July 10

Is there a rumor you've heard that you would like to track down? Is there something in the city — like playground equipment or a pothole — that needs to be fixed? Rick Romano answers some of the mysteries of life in Wauwatosa and helps solve everyday problems.

What is the construction project on 115th Street near Bluemound Road?

Issue: Our reader specifically asked about the construction he saw on the Underwood Parkway along the Menomonee River.

Status: Construction at 115th Street and the Parkway is part of a $7 million effort by the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District to rehabilitate a two-mile stretch of iron pipe known as the Underwood Creek force main.

A force main line is a sewer drained under pressure from a pumping station rather than by gravity.

Work is from the Underwood Parkway east of the Elm Grove border to, eventually, along Watertown Plan Road east of Highway 45. Corroded pipes, discovered by inspection in 2007 and 2009, are being repaired with a thinner fiberglass liner.

"It's a newer technology," said MMSD Senior Project Manager Keith Kalinger.

Kalinger said the project began two months ago and is scheduled to run through spring, 2015. He said work on the pipeline, originally built in 1983 as an important part of the district's pollution abatement program, will be completed in sections so that the main will be available in case of overflows.

Bicyclists may use the trail that runs along the parkway during the duration of construction, Kalinger said.

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