Elm St. sewer project entering final phase

LACONIA — Work on the Elm Street sewer project has entered its second phase and should be completed by August, according to the city’s Public Works director.

Work on Elm Street itself has been halted until July, with contract crews now installing new lines on School Street and Jefferson Street, Public Works Director Wes Anderson said Monday. Installation of new sewer lines on Massachusetts Avenue, and part of Belvidere Street also need to be done.

Anderson said the project is about 60% complete.

New sewer line remains to be installed on Elm Street from the area in front of the Elm Street School to just south of Hickory Stick Lane. That phase of the project will disrupt traffic on one of the city’s main thoroughfares for about two weeks.

That work is due to begin after the Fourth of July holiday.

“We didn’t want to start work on that section of the project while the school was open,” Anderson explained of the suspension of work on Elm Street itself.

The $2.037 million project has involved replacing the 100-year-old clay pipe which has become cracked or damaged over the years largely due to the annual freeze-thaw cycle.

The old pipe has been replaced with PVC, a plastic compound. The new pipe is the same size — 1 foot in diameter — as the older pipe. It comes in sections about five times longer — 20 feet, compared to 4 to 6 feet for clay pipe — which makes it less susceptible to breaking.

Anderson estimated that, barring any unanticipated complications, the final Elm Street section of the project will take about two weeks to complete. He said the entire project should be finished by Aug. 5.

Paving work to restore those portions of the streets dug up during the project will be performed by the contractor, Anderson explained. A top layer of pavement will be added later this year, he said.

The northern section of Lakeport is scheduled to receive new sewer lines in a separate project that will replace lines in North Street, and Sheridan Street, and sections of Belvidere and School streets not covered by the current project.

That project has been estimated to cost $2.5 million. While the total amount of the loan will be $2.5 million, the state Department of Environmental Services has committed to apply $747,600 in COVID stimulus funds toward the project which will bring the city’s loan obligation down to about $1.7 million.

That project still needs to be put out to bid, Anderson said.

The City Council gave the go-ahead for the city to apply for the loan in March.