Cowan Rehab Underway - KXNet - Bismarck/Minot/Williston/Dickinson

Creative construction on the street at Broadway and Fourth is keeping traffic flowing -- while the heavy-lifting goes on below ground.

Rehab of the Cowan Building is finally underway. It's down to one lane on Broadway in front of the Cowan Building for waterline work, but developer Loran Galpin says typical construction would have shut down the street down entirely. This project takes a different approach.

Loran Galpin, Developer, Galpin Co., says "they're excavating that [street] out. They'll line up the elevations. They'll put in a boring machine in that'll push all the new line underneath the street, so they don't have to dig it up. And then they'll link that in, tie that off, and then they'll fill that bore back in place. So, they'll, we got new sewer on the other side doing the same thing, but it's all underground, where we won't have to tear the streets up."

Public dollars are being put to work on the street and filling the underground vaults -- or rooms -- which extend beneath the sidewalk and encroach on the public right-of-way. As soon as the underground work is finished, the street will be reopened entirely. But the sidewalk on Broadway will be blocked off until about June and used as a staging area for construction vehicles. All this work is expected to bring the Cowan Building back to life by Fall.

Other unseen work includes the asbestos removal going on inside the building on the upper floors.