Crews Dig Hole on North Street to Underground Utilities

crews, joined by staff and equipment from Engelke Construction of Healdsburg, began digging an 11-foot-deep hole on North Street today to house underground utility cables.

Todd Woolman, Healdsburg Electric Department Superintendent, said the 17-by-10-foot hole will hold a vault for underground cables from Comcast and AT&T.

"Our city electric cables are already underground," Woolman said. He said the area around Foss Street west on North to Grove Street has been designated an underground utility district by Healdsburg City Council.

On Tuesday, crews dug the first huge hole and installed an underground vault near the intersection of North and Grove streets, he said. That process went smoothly, as did today's second hole excavation -- at least by midday, he said.

A second set of construction crews were also working alongside the city today, doing piling installations at the

"You never know what to expect when you're excavating," Woolman said. "We've had a really good excavation so far -- no surprises."

North Street will be partially closed during the excavation and may be closed completely for a short time on Thursday, he said.

After the vaults are in, crews will move the cables underground, remove most of the utility poles and dig shallow trenches on North Street for the conduits, he said. Most of the other areas of downtown Healdsburg already have underground utilities.

"This will all give a uniformity to downtown," Wooman said.