Charles Francis and Brian Fuchs with contractor Deig Brothers Construction are unpacking orange road barrels, dropping them in the intersection of Vine and Alvasia Streets in Henderson.
They’re placed between 60 tons of crushed rock and gravel and an excavator waiting to tear up the intersection.
“This is where we're going to start making our hot taps to start our new install,” said Francis, site Superintendent. “So we'll hot tap this main in three locations, and then we'll take a 20 inch main down the street.”
This is the start of the Henderson Water Utility’s project to “significantly improve” drinking water and sanitary sewer systems at an important and old part of the east-side water system.
It’s called the Washington-Vine project. Water Utility general Manager Bart Boles said parts of the water mains are from the 1890s.
“So what this is going to do is upgrade the system ... give us some more reliability for our infrastructure in that section of town,” he said. “That section of town is the oldest section of Henderson.”
They’ll be adding a new water main on Washington Street from Green Street to Alvasia and on Alvasia Street from Washington to Vine Street.
This will provide an alternative to the aging 20-inch water main located under Green Street.
Water service may only be briefly interrupted but there will be traffic detours. They’ll also add new sewer lines for a total of one-point-five miles in new lines.
In the intersection, an excavator is used to peel away the asphalt and drop it in the dump truck.
Boles said such upgrades are done every couple years in different areas to maintain the water and sewer system. This project will take six to eight months.
“So we're always trying to improve and upgrade infrastructure and make sure everything's maintained and operating properly.”
This will cost $4.2 million with local and grant funds.
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