Phase 2 of the improvements scheduled for Colman Pool at Lincoln Park are now underway. Photographer David Rosen paid an exclusive visit to the work site on Monday February 6 to document the work being done on the 70 year old structure. Phase 1 involved the installation of a vault to take on the back wash water.

If you use the park for your walks you should know that Orca Pacific, the contractor for the work will be using the pathway along the shoreline of Lincoln Park to move all materials and equipment associated with the project. The path to the pool will be busy with construction related traffic each weekday from 6 a.m. to 5 p.m., with possible work on weekends, through June 30, 2012. The normal opening date for the pool has been delayed by 30 days in order to complete the work

Orca Pacific is in control of this traffic Seattle Parks said they will maintain a high degree of awareness and customer service at all times.

Phase 2 includes some large scale repairs, including replacement of part of the pool deck, pool gutters, and upper section of the pool shell. The contractor will also install a new plaster lining to increase the life expectancy of the pool.

Garrett Farrell, Project manager described the process the contractor is following to complete the work. "They are filling the existing swimming pool with material because of the tides and the ground water we don't want that pool shell to try to float. It's a gravel and sand mixture at 130 lbs per cubic foot. Then all around the pool we're removing a section of the deck.

We're removing all of the gutter and about the upper four feet of the pool wall. When Colman Pool was built originally, it was a tub with a deck around it. You would walk up to it and step over the lip of the tub and into the pool. Also all the way around, underneath you is a "Utilidor" that carries the piping runs for the pool. All the water in, water out runs in that tunnel. The piping was hung from the roof of that tunnel. Over the years it started falling down in there there were concerns that the tunnel lid would rot away. We're going to build a new lid over the top of that one. They made a wedge out of sand and they poured a new slab on it. You know when you are walking on that pool deck now and you ramp up to the edge and you are a foot off the water? That's the way it is and we have to put it back the way we found it."

Once the deck and wall are removed they can take the next step. "They have to form and pour the new deck and wall out of new concrete," said Farrell, "They have to do it in a checkerboard fashion because they have to let each section shrink. Once the concrete is back in place, they remove the sand and gravel from the pool and they water blast prep the interior surface of the pool, which means all of it gets prepped. Water blast is non-selective. If it's softer than it needs to be it gets washed away. Then it will receive a new plaster liner, then immediately fill the pool. You have to brush and cure the plaster for 14 days, underwater. You monitor the water chemistry and once it's cured we're able to open to the public."

For more information, please visit http://seattle.gov/parks/maintenance/colman_pool_renovations.htm or contact Garrett Farrell, Project Manager, at 206-233-7921 or garrett.farrell@seattle.gov. For after hours issues or emergencies, please contact the Parks Duty Officer at pager number 206- 982-4583.