City of Birmingham begins construction at Sixth Avenue South Viaduct

The City of Birmingham announced last week that it would begin long-awaited construction work to ease flooding caused by heavy rains underneath the Sixth Avenue South CSX viaduct on August 24.

The project will involve the construction of about 4,000 linear feet of storm sewers of various sizes with connections to existing storm sewer systems, according to a city news release.

There will also be work at the intersections at Seventh Avenue South and Eighth Street South, according to the release.

The estimated completion date of the entire project is February 19, 2021. The work will be done in four phases that will disrupt traffic flow.

• Phase 1 will require the closing of two lanes of traffic along Sixth Avenue South. Work will begin August 24 and is scheduled to end September 22.
• Phase 2 will require the closing of two lanes of traffic along Sixth Avenue South. Work is scheduled to begin September 23 and end November 26, 2020.
• Phase 3 will require traffic to be shifted to the west and north side of Eighth Street South and Seventh Avenue South. Work is scheduled to begin November 27 and end January 21, 2021.
• Phase 4 will require traffic to be shifted to the west and north side of Eighth Street South and Seventh Avenue South. Work is scheduled to begin January 22, 2021 and end February 19, 2021. 

Birmingham-based contractor Russo Corporation will do the work. The project cost is contracted at $2,491,696.

The Birmingham City Council allocated the money for the project on March 11.

Flooding along Sixth Avenue South has been a serious issue for years, said Councilor Crystal Smitherman.

Project information and updates will be available at birminghamal.gov/sixth-avenue.