CLARKSBURG, W.Va. (WBOY) — The Clarksburg Water Board held a ceremonial groundbreaking on Monday to mark the beginning of the new Chestnut Street water line replacement pipeline project that is expected to slow down local traffic.
Starting Monday, Oct. 2 construction will first start on the roadsides of the intersection of Route 98 and S. Chestnut Street. The project will extend from the intersection of Route 98 and S. Chestnut Street and go all the way up to Hite Field by Harvey Street—one to two blocks at a time will be worked on. Digging of the main lines will start the following week of Oct. 9.
The board said that they will be notifying businesses and homes that will be impacted by road closures and that the construction will not bring a change to the water supply. Officials are hoping that construction will only last six months but said that inclement weather could slow things down.
“Some of our lines are aging, now these lines are not that old. But we’re going to replace them, we have three different sized lines in that street,” Al Cox, Clarksburg Waterboard President, said. “We’re going to consolidate them into a 24-inch line which will more than adequately serve the needs of this county for many years to come and it’s time for us to replace that aging infrastructure and that’s what we’re doing,”
The zinc-coated are looking to help fight existing issues of corrosion that have plagued existing lines over the years.
In addition to the 24-inch pipes, the existing 10-inch and 12-inch waterlines will be replaced and valves will be added.
Officials have said that the valves will give flexibility in the future to easily replace a pipe without needing to shut down the entire plant.
“We’re gonna start down at the intersection below the water board and work our way up Chestnut St. going up the hill and once we start into the actual streets laying the lines it’ll be done a block or two at a time and it takes time because you’re replacing the main line plus the service lines to go to meters.”
The project’s plans have been five years in the making and will cost $2.8 million.
