A “vital” water main at Marietta Square will soon be replaced and could require nearly six months of road closures and construction on the iconic town center area, city officials announced Wednesday.
Crews will install a new underground water pipe along Powder Springs Street from Waverly Way north to Whitlock Avenue. They will also add a new water main on both sides of the CSX railroad track along Waverly Way. The $736,000 project will begin in January.
The city’s plan includes digging up a cast iron segment of water main at Waverly Way and Powder Springs Street that was originally installed in the 1940s. According to Marietta city spokesperson Lindsey Wiles, that portion of the main is near the end of its service life.
City officials say a leaking valve in the pipeline near the train tracks spurred the project.
Because of its close proximity to the railroad crossing, CSX Transportation would not allow Marietta’s water department to fix the valve. That forced city crews to install a new railroad crossing and that tapped into the aging water main at Waverly Way and Powder Springs Street.
Marietta officials took note of the water main’s condition and the fact that there are other Public Works projects slated for Powder Springs Street. That prompted them to extend the area where new piping will be installed all the way to Whitlock Avenue.
The new water pipes will be constructed in four phases. The first two phases, expected to take two weeks apiece, will entail installing the new main on the west and east sides of the railroad track along Waverly Way.
CSX guidelines call for the work to be done during normal business hours. That will require portions of Waverly Way to be closed to traffic on weekdays for the first four weeks of construction. Trucks won’t be allowed on Powder Springs Street, and the Waverly Way parking lot entrance to Wendy’s will be closed for the first two weeks while crews are adding the new water main west of the railroad tracks.
Construction will shift to Powder Springs Street for phases 3 and 4, when the work hours will become 10 p.m. to 7 a.m. City workers will spend three weeks installing the new pipes from Waverly Way to the Two Birds Taphouse, 52 Powder Springs St. They’ll take the next 15 weeks adding the piping from Two Birds to Whitlock Avenue.
Powder Springs Street will be closed to vehicular traffic during the overnight work hours.
Foot traffic is not expected to be impacted during any phase of the project, according to city officials.
Credit: Matt Bruce
Credit: Matt Bruce
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