As contractors tore up old pavement on Fryar Avenue—part of the Traffic Avenue and Main Street intersection construction project that has been in progress since last summer—they discovered a new obstacle and task to improving the roadway and attendant infrastructure.

Workers discovered an approximate 1700 feet of asbestos-cement pipe underneath the asphalt, extending from the Fryar Avenue and Zehnder Street intersection to the corner of Puyallup Street. As of press time, work will have completed to replace the outdated pipes with new waterways made of ductile iron.

“AC pipe hasn’t been used [as a material] for quite some time,” Sumner’s Associate City Engineer Ted Hill said Wednesday. “Workers saw it had started falling apart, and it’s age probably didn’t help.”

An executive decision was made to replace the pipe immediately, and submitted an action item to the city council’s May 2 meeting for approval.

“It had to be done right away, so we kind of took it into our own hands, but kept in mind that we should go through the proper channels [of council approval],” Hill said.

At the meeting, councilman Leroy Goff noted that the immediate replacement of the piping before commencing regularly scheduled work was a logical choice.

“It wouldn’t make sense to repave the road and then tear it up again to replace the pipe later,” he said.

In addition to the change in materials, the diameter of the piping has been expanded from 8 inches to 12 inches, allowing for a greater volume of fluid travel.

Construction on the Traffic and Main project began in July 2010, with the intent to increase traffic flow, improve the pavement, and add new sidewalks and bike lanes. Altered traffic signals and new utility lines have been a necessity for the project.

Work was initially planned to last four to five months, but a cold winter and late spring has caused delays to the final stages. The recent reemergence of warm weather will allow contractors to take the project to its conclusion.