ASHLAND — Residents who live along nine streets near Brookside Park in Ashland will be without running water this weekend as crews work to repair a 12-inch water main break.
Crews from Simonson Construction Services are to begin work on Saturday. Water is expected to be turned off between 7 a.m. and 5 p.m. that day.
If work isn’t finished, work will continue between the same hours on Sunday, according to a statement city officials issued on its website.
The water will be shut off to houses along these streets:
- Arthur’s Court
- Priscilla Lane
- Winthrop Lane
- Overlook Drive
- Plymouth Lane
- Hickory Court
- Elmarna Avenue
- Fairview Drive
- Abbie Lane
All houses will be affected by the shut-off, including Grace Church and Ashland Christian School, said Mike Hunter, the city’s utilities director.
He said houses and entities affected by the shut-off were notified Wednesday. City officials said property owners should have received a blue door hanger with information about the work.
“We hope to be done by Sunday,” Hunter said. “But, worst-case scenario, we’d have to continue through Sunday.
No public bids
Hunter said the repair work — expected to cost nearly $12,000 — did not go out to bidders.
“It was not a biddable project,” he said, citing the state’s $50,000 bidding threshold.
“So we went with a local contractor, someone who worked on it before when (this water line) failed before,” he said.
The designated repair area is not huge, he said. The section is completely within a wooded area just north of Hickory Court and south of Southview Drive. Crews will enter the woods from either side with heavy machinery to access the pipes.
Shane Kremser, the city’s engineer, said there are two existing water distribution main lines, a low-service and a high-service line, that are exposed within a Town Creek crossing.
They are exposed because of “natural erosion of the creek bed,” Kremser said.
“We need to reconstruct the mains so that they are a minimum of five feet below the existing creek bed surface to ensure that they are protected and below frost depth,” the engineer said.