The cost to repair a broken sewer pipe in Barrington eclipses the $400,000 mark.
According to Barrington Department of Public Works Director Alan Corvi, the contractor (C.B. Utility) …
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The cost to repair a broken sewer pipe in Barrington eclipses the $400,000 mark.
According to Barrington Department of Public Works Director Alan Corvi, the contractor (C.B. Utility) hired to install a new 15-inch sewer pipe near the intersection of Middle Highway and Legion Way charged the town $433,528.49 for the work.
The project’s price tag could grow in the near future, however.
“We still need to rehab the existing manholes at this location to prevent groundwater from infiltrating in,” Corvi wrote in an email to the Barrington Times. “This work will involve sealing all seams/cracks and then epoxy coating the inside of the manhole when the wet weather subsides. The manhole rehabilitation will be done by another company that specializes in that type of work in the near future when we have dry weather. We anticipate that work should cost under $40,000 if all goes well.”
The manhole rehabilitation will not be the final charge associated with the sewer line repair project.
Corvi said the town will need to bid out the final roadway restoration of the intersection sometime in the upcoming spring or summer.
“I am unsure what the cost of the final roadway paving will be,” Corvi wrote.
There had been a question as to whether the Bristol County Water Authority may incur some of the project costs, as officials discovered that a broken water main was located near the leaking sewer main.
In a Sept. 2024 article, Corvi said “When we were digging we found a water main that had a hole in it. It was possibly leaking water. It definitely had a hole in it.” He added: “We’re just beginning talks with the water authority.”
In his recent email to The Times, Corvi wrote: “We (are) not optimistic on pursuing BCWA paying for some of this work since we would have to prove that they caused our pipe to fail. What we believe and what we can actually prove is the difference. We may need to seek the advice of our solicitor to see what direction we should go regarding that matter.”
The project to repair the broken pipe, which is located about 20 feet underneath the intersection of Middle Highway and Legion Way, began in August after crews noticed a dip in the roadway.
The work also presented crews with a variety of obstacles, and motorists with an inconvenient detour. For about a month in the fall, officials closed the section of Middle Highway that runs between Nayatt Road and Maple Avenue, and stationed police details and DPW workers to man the detour 24 hours a day.
The depth of the excavation, coupled with some unexpected challenges, extended the duration of the work longer than officials anticipated. One of the unexpected challenges was a large steel plate that workers had to cut through in order to access the broken pipe.