SUN-GAZETTE FILE PHOTO

The greater Williamsport levee repair project also has been hit by inflation, such as rising material costs and the need to hire specialized firms.

Williamsport and Lycoming County officials said that the relief well construction project, part of the ongoing levee repair and recertification, has come in $3 million over what was expected. At least one bid must be rejected by Lycoming County in the joint project with the City of Williamsport and South Williamsport.

The project funding available is $1.75 million, but that amount is still not enough to cover the estimate that came in. The county received one bid for the request for proposal for the project, Shannon Rossman, executive

director of the county Department of Planning and Community Development and city engineer Jon Sander said.

The next step will be to work with the Army Corps of Engineers to review and rebid the project with additional clarification on the relief well designs and specifications in September to hopefully cut down on the costs, Rossman said.

The engineering determined there are 50 relief wells that require replacement, with 40 on the city side and 10 on South Williamsport, Sander said. The wells in the city keep the levee stable by allowing water to be pumped out through them instead of seeping and weakening the levee wall. In South Williamsport, the wells tie into the stormwater structures, Sander said. There are about 106 relief wells along the entire levee system, he said.

“This is strictly a bid for construction,” Sander said. “The design is done by Wood Engineering.”

The well deficiencies are just some of the many improvements needed for recertification, which is necessary to prevent landowners from paying exorbitant flood insurance.

The joint partners on the levee recertification also are working on replacing a number of cross pipes, pump houses and looking for funding for projects to heighten and strengthen the levee wall on the Lycoming Creek side.

The levee protects $4 billion to $5 billion of real estate assets for the city, South Williamsport borough and Old Lycoming and Loyalsock townships.