Crews reinforce retaining wall in Saranac Lake

SARANAC LAKE - Village Mayor Clyde Rabideau said he's been getting a lot of questions from people about what the large crane and crew of contractors are doing next to a Broadway bar.

For the past week, a crew from Luck Brothers, a Plattsburgh construction firm, has been using the crane to help reinforce a section of the retaining wall that runs below Alpine Terrace, behind the Rusty Nail, near the intersection of Bloomingdale Avenue and Broadway.

"The village owns most of the hillside abutting the Upper Broadway section near the Nail and that hillside is starting to slide towards the street, thanks to years of rain and gravity, which will endanger people and property," Rabideau said in a Sunday news release. "With federal grant monies from FEMA (the Federal Emergency Management Agency), a contractor is drilling large diameter holes along the bank approximately 30-to-35-feet deep. They will then insert heavy angle iron into the holes and encase the pieces in concrete. These iron-concrete structures will then, according to engineers, retain the hillside and help stabilize it."

A crew from Luck Brothers construction, seen here this morning, has been working to reinforce the retaining wall on Broadway behind the Rusty Nail bar and the adjacent village parking lot. (Enterprise photo Chris Knight)

A Luck Brothers representative on the site told the Enterprise this morning that the wall will be reinforced in 14 different locations. He said he expects the work will take about another month to complete.

The project is one of several happening in the village that are associated with damage from the spring 2011 floods. Crews have also repaired a retaining wall on Pelkey Lane and are restoring Hydro Point behind the Lake Flower dam, which was undermined by the flooding of the Saranac River.

In July, Luck Brothers was the low bidder and won a $1.18 million contract for repair work associated with the spring 2011 floods. The company was one of four that submitted bids, ranging from $1.18 million to $2.6 million.

The village is paying for the work up front and will be reimbursed by FEMA later. The village's share will be 12.5 percent, or roughly $148,000.

Rabideau said the Alpine Terrace job is "one of those projects you get asked about by every three people in the Grand Union.

"I thought I'd get this news release out there so everyone would know, and then I can finish my shopping more quickly and get home in time to watch the football game," the mayor said.

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Crews reinforce retaining wall in Saranac Lake