Water line project to begin Tuesday

The final step in completing a loop of 12-inch water lines in downtown Fort Scott will begin Tuesday.

The existing water line running from Wall Street to Second Street on National Avenue as well as the water main running from Main Street to National Avenue on First Street will be replaced with work beginning Tuesday with the work being done by city crews.

According to Fort Scott Supervisor of Water Distribution and Waste Water Collection Bill Lemke, the decision to use city crews was based mostly on budget constraints. Bid for the installation alone came in at about $105,000 and the materials were about $68,000. With a budget of $130,000 for the entire project, Fort Scott Director of Public Works Eric Bailey looked for other options. The solution was to have city employees do the work.

"We're not sure if city crews are necessarily going to be able to do it for less than that, but we believe it can be done," Lemke said.

Lemke said the Public Works department will be keeping track of man hours to determine how much the project costs to have the city crews rather than a contractor.

"It's a challenge for Public Works, but it's one we think we can do," he said.

In order to complete the work as quickly as possible, Lemke said the crew doing the work will consist of individuals from every subdivision of the Public Works Department. He said this would prevent any one subdivision from being unable to complete its regular duties.

"We don't want to leave any department short-handed," Lemke said. "It's going to be a team effort on everybody's part."

The timing of the project is could not be better, according to Lemke. With National Avenue on schedule to be overlaid this summer, the project getting done now will prevent any need to damage the new road to fix a water line that is "prone to breaking." In addition, this time of year lends itself to taking on this project. Lemke said that in the summer months other crews are focused on many other projects such as mowing the parks and improving the streets and sidewalks.

"Putting this new water main in is going to also help keep us from having to tear up new improvements in the future," Lemke said. "This time of the year is probably about the best time of year that we can handle that."

The work is expected to take about three weeks to complete. Lemke said factors such as extreme cold, rain, and snow could delay the completion.

"It might take a little longer depending on any difficulties we run into and the weather," he said.

While the crews are working, the streets will be blocked however, whenever possible, the streets will be reopened in the evenings.

"We are trying to be mindful," Lemke said.

The water line will not only be replaced, but it will also be moved. Lemke said the line will be moved from the center of the street to the east side of National, about four to five feet off the curb. While the water lines are being reconnected, Lemke said businesses in the area will see a temporary loss of water for two hours at the most.

"That would be an extreme difficult case," he said.

After the work is completed, Lemke said the trenches will be back filled then filled with compacted rock to the surface of the road until National Avenue is overlaid.