November 4th, 2014
This work was completed at 3:00pm today however some customers might experience some discolored water.
As part of the Hayward Road water main improvement, Onyx Corp will be shutting down a small portion of Main Street today at the intersection of Hayward Road to disconnect and cap the old water main that is now retired. This shutdown will not affect a significant number of customers’ (2) service, but may, due to an abnormal hydraulic configuration, cause some discoloration in surrounding areas, Patriot Hill, Main Street, Coughlin, Taylor, Hayward Road, etc.
July 22nd, 2014
The contractor, Onyx Corporation of Acton, has installed the new water main from Jefferson Drive to Main Street/Route 27. The pipe is interconnected at Main Street with the existing water main, but remains in the off position. The new pipe has passed leakage testing, but has yet to pass bacteria testing. Continued disinfection and flushing are necessary to achieve a negative bacteria sample. Once this occurs, the contractor will begin to connect residential services, of which there are 17, to the new water main. Residents there should be on the lookout for notices to this effect, as it will require a service outage to complete. Additionally, there is one intersecting street, Jefferson Drive, that must be must interconnected to the new pipe. This will require a service outage on Jefferson Drive. Residents there will receive prior notice before any outage is undertaken. After allowing the new water main trench to settle for one year, per Acton Highway Department regulation, the roadway will be milled and overlaid curb-to-curb. As a future system improvement, we are coordinating with MA Dept of Transportation to install a water main on the Route 2 bridge on Hayward Road. This future improvement will create a desirable “Looped” condition there, enhancing water quality and creating some redundancy for reliability of service for the abutting neighborhoods.
May 2, 2014
HAYWARD ROAD WORK STARTS now that Stow project is complete
The contractor, Onyx Corporation of Acton, has completed the connection at the 5-way intersection at Liberty, Stow and Martin Streets. This past week, the new pipes passed leak testing and bacterial testing, and have been placed into service. This culminates an infrastructure improvement that began in the summer of 2013, and included the replacement of the problematic main on Hayward Road between Arlington Street and Haartz Corporation behind the A-B Regional School campus. The forthcoming phase will be a replacement of the pipe on Hayward Road between the Route 2 bridge and Main Street/Route 27. Onyx should be mobilizing to this area by mid-May. Over the course of the coming week, they will be resurfacing the impacted roadways from curb-to-curb, and restoring abutting areas that were disturbed by this project. This is part of our annual commitment to improve aging and failing infrastructure at a rate of $500k per year. This issue is not isolated to Acton, but is global problem. Here in United States, the shortfall of funding infrastructure improvements for water and wastewater systems is in the neighborhood of $20-billion. There is currently proposed legislation that has been passed by the MA Senate, Senate Bill 2016 seen here , in February of this year, that has now moved to the MA House of Representatives. The bill’s objective is assisting the Commonwealth’s cities & towns in financing these critical improvements.
I would like to thank citizens and motorists for their patience during very trying times. These projects have major traffic impacts, and simply disrupt the typical routines of life, and we thoroughly appreciate everyone’s understanding of the challenges of replacing buried infrastructure.
Thank you
Chris Allen, District Manager
April 14, 2014
HAYWARD ROAD WORK Starts UP AGAIN
After terminating work last December due to the impending winter weather, Onyx Corporation of Acton, MA has re-mobilized to complete the scope of the water main replacement on Stow Street, and then proceed to Hayward Road to complete the replacement of the water main pipe between the Route 2 Bridge and Main Street/Route 27. We anticipate this will be completed in the early summer. The Stow Street portion will consist of tying in the intersection at Stow/Liberty/Martin Streets to the new main on Stow Street. This should be complete by the end of April. The portion of Hayward Road that was completed last year (Between Arlington Street and the Route 2 Bridge) and Stow Street will be paved curb-to-curb in early May. This work will impact traffic patterns on these two rights-of-way. Typically the contractor will maintain one lane of passage, but there may be times when it is necessary to close the road, and detour traffic for safety purposes. We appreciate everyone’s patience during this process, and understand the major inconvenience that this presents. When complete, the project will raise the integrity of the pipes in those areas preventing breakage that historically caused service outages and widespread discoloration events.
November 1, 2013
Hayward Road work almost complete; work on Stow Street to commence
The water main improvement on Hayward Road is just about complete. All tie-ins to existing pipes are made, the main has been tested for leak tightness and the absence of microbial activity has been verified by lab testing. The next step in the process is for the contractor to prepare and pave the water main trench, and repair the roadway shoulders and areas that were disturbed during the project in preparation for the winter season. Next year, Hayward Road will be milled and overlaid from curb-to-curb. We’d like to thank the residents in the vicinity, and those impacted by this project for their patience and understanding. We understand that this was a major inconvenience, mostly due to its proximity to the Acton-Boxborough Regional School complex. Our intent was to complete the project prior to the school year beginning. However, due to unforeseen conditions, this did not come to fruition. The existing water main on Hayward Road was prone to breakage risking property damage, traffic hazards, and water service outages to the residents and businesses located there. Thusly, the replacement of the water main was escalated to a high priority.
Now that that portion of the contract is essentially complete, the contractor will move to Stow Street to replace another length of problematic infrastructure there. Much of that replacement due to the area and nature of service will be installed using trenchless technology, or directional drilling; removing the necessity of digging elongated excavation trenches at a depth of 5-6’. Instead, two access trenches to allow the insertion of a length of High Density Polyethylene pipe using a directional drilling rig. This work will commence on, or about, the week of November 4th, and, if all goes well, conclude on, or about, November 30th.
The roadway and traffic impacts on Stow Street will be similar to those on Hayward Road. Most times, one lane will remain open with traffic controls in place. However, there may be times when it will be necessary to close the road and detour traffic to alternate routes. We recommend that, during the month of November, motorists stay away from this area, and seek alternate routes. This will help expedite the duration of the project on Stow Street, and ensure that crews are working safely.
We’d like to thank all those affected by these improvements for their patience and understanding. These repairs are necessary for the sustainable supply of potable water to those connected to the District. Please refer to our website for updates on this, and other, projects of note. And, look for changes in the appearance and functionality of our website as we strive to make it more user friendly and informative.
Chris Allen
District Manager
October 10, 2013
Hayward ROAd water main improvements 3 weeks behind schedule
Hayward Road Status
The majority of the water main on Hayward Road has been installed, with only a small section by the Route 2 Bridge left to install. This section will be completed once the rest of the main has passed the pressure test and been disinfected. The main has been tied into the Arlington St main. The only lateral connection that has been made so far is at the High School entrance near the tennis courts. The remaining laterals that must be installed are: Joseph Reed Lane, High School Entrance (near parking lot), and Charter Rd. No services have been installed at this time.
Hayward Road Look Ahead
As of noon on Friday, the water main had not passed the pressure test. The Contractor has located and isolated a minor leak. The pressure testing will continue on Thursday, 10/10, morning. Assuming a successful test, the Contractor will begin installing services next week, the week of 10/13, and anticipate being done by the following Monday. At that time the Contractor proposes to conduct trench paving.
Hayward Road Paving
Due to less than satisfactory driving conditions on Hayward Road, paving must be a priority moving forward. The contractor is tentatively set to pave the week of October 14, contingent on the new main passing testing, and connections to the existing infrastructure being made.
Chris Allen
District Manager
September 26, 2013
Hayward ROAd water main improvements incurring delays
Although the contractor, Onyx Corporation of Acton, had anticipated being done on Hayward Road by the beginning of the school year, due to unforeseen conditions, i.e., incurrence of ledge, and unsuitable material sub-surface, there have been unintended delays in the project progress. Although there has been progress, it has been slow going.
Currently, the contractor is tying existing infrastructure to the newly installed pipes, and, hopefully, will be concluding the Hayward Road portion of the contract in early October. The next phase of the process on Hayward will be filling and testing the new pipes for leak tightness and disinfecting and sampling to confirm the absence of microbial activity. Assuming those tests pass, there will begin a process of tying each existing residential service to the new water main pipe. We will be notifying individual homeowners when this will occur, and a short service outage will be necessary to complete this transition.
After the completion on Hayward Road, Onyx will move to Stow St to begin a replacement of the existing water main there. Hopefully, the sub-surface conditions on Stow St are more predictable, and that aspect of the project goes more smoothly. I would like to complement Onyx for their diligence and professionalism in taking on a very challenging project, and progressing with the best efficiency possible under difficult circumstances.
I would like to thank the residents, businesses and the A-B Regional School District on Hayward Road for their patience and understanding as we undertake this system upgrade to repair a portion of the system that has historically been problematic. Similarly, the portion on Stow St will be correcting the same issues with that water main.
Chris Allen
District Manager
