WEIRTON - The Weirton Area Water Board and staff have been looking at ways to prevent another major waterline break at the city's water plant like one that left residents without water for nearly a week.
A construction project that will prevent a similar problem in the future is going to bid this week. Thrasher Engineering representatives said the preliminary bid process has begun, three contractors hold design plans, and the bids will be submitted at 2 p.m. Wednesday.
In September, water board members were presented with a preliminary engineering report from Jonathan Carpenter of Thrasher Engineering. He said the project is expected to cost $200,000 and could be expected to take up to eight weeks to complete. Board officials did receive some good news, as the board will receive a $50,000 grant to be used for engineering costs associated with installing another line that could be used at a future date to divert water flow.
Mastrantoni said the construction is likely to come in two or more phases, but because the condition of the older line is not fully known, he said there is no way of telling how many phases the project will have to go through.
He added if the construction is phased properly, it shouldn't affect the rate increase. While the grant would not serve as reimbursement for the expenditures associated with the project thus far, it would be able to be used in a later phase of the project.
The first phase is expected to establish a parallel line near the ground's surface for a portion of the water line, and the larger project will come in a later phase to address the entire line going to the city.
Carpenter said he would be ready to present the lowest bid at the Jan. 12 meeting.
