District replacing sewer, water mains

11 years ago

    PRESQUE ISLE, Maine — A project to replace some sewer and water mains in the central business district is under way.
The contractor for the project is McGillan, Inc., of Fort Fairfield. McGillan submitted the low bid of $741,248.50 for the work. The consulting engineer for the project is Woodard & Curran of Bangor.
“The sewer work on Main Street includes replacing a sewer main from Blake to State Street. The sewer work on Academy Street includes replacing a sewer main from Main to Second Street,” said Stephen Freeman, director of the Presque Isle Utilities District.
Freeman said the work on Academy includes replacing a water main from Main to Second Street.
“The water work on Main Street will be located between Blake and State streets and consists of replacing valves and making new connections for service lines, sprinklers, hydrants and existing mains on side streets such as Blake, Church and State,” he said.
“The objective of the water work on Main Street is to abandon an existing eight-inch water main, thus most of the water work will consist of disconnecting services, sprinklers, hydrants and mains from the eight-inch main and making new connections to an existing 12-inch main,” said Freeman.
He said replacement was necessary due to the age of the system.
“The work is being done because the existing sewer mains and the existing eight-inch water mains are over 100 years old and near the end of their service lives. The project is being done this year because the Maine Department of Transportation plans to pave Main Street in 2015. After the paving is done, there is a five-year moratorium on doing non-emergency underground utility work in the street,” Freeman said.
Freeman said the Academy Street part of the project should be completed by early August. The Main Street part of the project should be completed by early October.
“People shopping, traveling and working in Presque Isle should expect traffic disruptions and detours, especially at the Main Street intersections with Academy, State, Church and Blake streets,” said Freeman.
For more information or to express concerns about the project, call Freeman at 762-5061.