by Mark Reaman 

The earthwork that has gone on since late last summer along Highway 135 between Crested Butte and the Whetstone Community Housing project south of town should be done in August. That work is basically repairing and finishing the water and sewer line work that will provide those utilities to the housing project. But a disastrous piece of work from a Montrose subcontractor last year resulted in the need for a major redo of the work by local contractor Spallone Construction Inc.

Spallone crews have been working along the west side of the highway for months now. Wetlands by the Slate River near the Brush Creek turn-off were again dug up to properly situate the pipes. The contractors first focused on the new water line main in spring and early summer.

“We had some fixes to that original contractor’s work, the cost of which was covered by the subcontractor default insurance and the bond,” explained Gunnison County assistant county manager for operations and sustainability John Cattles. “Then we had to pothole back down to that line in predetermined spots to finish installing air-vents and valves which were not installed as the line was originally laid. My understanding is that was intentional to go back and do those valves, but I don’t know why it was done that way.

“Now, we are installing the forced main sewer line,” Cattles continued. “That sewer line was installed under the river and across the wetlands last year but the majority of it had to wait until now because it would have been unsafe to have two open trenches parallel to each other at the same time.”

Cattles said the work around the river and in the wetlands is done. “Both lines are through and we’ve started the reclamation and planting process,” he said. “It’s a lot of digging in what looks like the same place over and over, but other than the sections of rework that had to happen this spring to fix that original sub’s mistakes, the project is going according to plan.”

Crested Butte public works director Shea Earley said the water line to Whetstone is complete and the utility has been tested and is operational.

Cattles said the timeline has the contractor finishing that part of the utility before the end of next month.

The county hopes to start leasing units in Whetstone by early next year with completion of the project in late 2027.