The DuBoistown Bridge project just got a little more expensive for the Williamsport Municipal Water Authority.
The authority approved Wednesday a $179,674 payment increase to Gannett Fleming Inc., bringing the bridge project's total engineering costs to $306,168 for a new water main installation.
Authority Executive Director Walt Nicholson said the added cost allows for the installation of a main separated from the new bridge to be constructed, instead of placing it on the bridge itself.
"Right now, we have the water main on the bridge," he said. "When they demolish the bridge, we will have to have a new main. Instead of having our main on the new bridge, we'll have our own river crossing."
The main, which Nicholson said services Newberry and the neighboring industrial park area, will be increased from 20 inches to a new measurement of 30 inches in diameter.
"The water main comes across Mosquito Valley to Reach Road," Nicholson said. "It's the main feeder line to Newberry and the industrial park."
A main separate from the bridge allows for more efficient winter maintenance if freezing were to occur, Nicholson said.
Total construction cost of the new water main will be an estimated $2 million, separate from the engineering cost, he said.
Both engineering and construction is expected to be reimbursed by the state Department of Transportation by about 50 percent of the total costs, Nicholson said, adding an exact figure still is being discussed.
The board voted 9-1 to approve the engineering cost increase, with authority Secretary Eiderson A. Dean the sole dissenter. He believes the authority's engineering committee shouldn't be prevented from continued exploration of the particular engineering costs.
"I feel the engineering committee should not be restricted to bringing any further action the board," Dean said.
Nicholson said he believes the planning is being properly controlled.
Authority Chairman William E. Nichols said the engineering committee should be addressed on the issue to give them a complete explanation.
In other business:
Nicholson said the sanitary authority is being inflicted with a new $10,000 payment to the state, which includes $5,000 for each sewage treatment plant. "It's to reimburse the (Department of Environmental Protection) to watch over us," he said.
The authority unanimously approved two sewer planning modules, both serviced by the central sewage plant. Authority engineering Director LaRue VanZile said a Marriott Hotel under construction on West Church Street will have an estimated daily flow of 8,100 gallons, and a separate Loyalsock Township School District multi-purpose building being built near the football field has an estimate of 2,200 daily gallons.
* Nicholson said the authority is being inflicted with a new $10,000 payment to the state, which includes $5,000 for each sewage treatment plant. "It's to reimburse the (Department of Environmental Protection) to watch over us," he said.
