Main replacement to benefit residents now and tomorrow

Archive for Thursday, January 8, 2009

January 8, 2009

In June 2008, a water main break was instrumental in shutting down much of Montgomery County, Md., for several days. In December, another equally destructive break occurred.

It’s situations like these the Bonner Springs Public Works Department is trying to avoid through the replacement of a water main around Kump Avenue, stretching from Nettleton Avenue to 138th Street.

The cast-iron water main is old, said utilities director Rick Sailler, at least 35 years old, and needs to be replaced sooner rather than later.

“That water line will break,” Sailler said. “It’s not if, it’s when.”

The water main is made up of four-inch and six-inch sections, which Sailler said were too undersized for productive fire flow and water pressure. A new 12-inch water line, made with ductile iron cement-lined steel pipes, will be installed. The ductile pipes should prevent a repeat of last year, where a total of 24 water main breaks occurred in the area.

“Ductile’s got a little bit of give, so it won’t snap as easy (as the cast-iron pipes),” said Sailler.

The water line work, which will get under way in March or April of this year, is part of a complete road replacement taking place on that stretch of Kump between Nettleton and 138th. The water line will be replaced first and should take around 90 to 120 days to complete. Cost for just the water line replacement will be approximately $650,000. Though the water line replacement is a preventative measure, Sailler said it should correct problems residents in Bonner already were facing.

“The water quality will improve because it will be a newer water line. Homeowners should have better water pressure,” he said.

This is not the first water line replacement project to be seen in Bonner, and Sailler said it wouldn’t be the last. The Kump project will be followed by another water line replacement on Front Street, and is just one in a series of projects being done to revitalize the city and make it more habitable for current and future residents.

“Our forefathers put these water lines in years ago, so it’s up to you and me to put in new ones for our kids,” Sailler said. “Nothing lasts forever.”