Upgrade planned for 7 south water main

The Hot Springs Board of Directors seized on an opportunity earlier this week to upgrade the water distribution system in advance of the city’s plan to build a

15 million gallon a day treatment plant south of Lake Hamilton.

The board adopted an ordinance allowing the city to waive competitive bidding requirements and award a $209,230 contract to Coakley Construction for the replacement of 1,884 feet of the

8-inch diameter main along Highway 7 south from Long Beach to Ashley roads.

The section will be upgraded to 12 inches, allowing greater dis-

tribution capacity when the new plant comes online, which the city estimates could occur as soon as 2022. The plant will treat the city’s 23 million-gallon average day allocation from Lake Ouachita, about 20 miles to the north.

Crist Engineers Inc., the city’s water system consultant, said the extra width is needed to accommodate the new plant, telling the city bringing potable water from the south will reduce pumping costs and stress on aging distribution lines. Two plants at the west and north ends of the system currently service the regional water system’s more than

35,000 meters.

“The purpose for upgrading this section of water main is to provide a continuous

12-inch water main from the south from the future water treatment plant,” the city engineering department said in a memo it submitted in support of the emergency request. “According to Crist Engineers, this upgrade is essential for our hydraulic model, and is a major improvement required for our future plans.”

Construction underway on Highway 7 south requires the city to act urgently, the engineering department said. The main is adjacent to the northbound lane on the east side of the road, where Kiewit Infrastructure South Co., the Fort Worth, Texas, contractor awarded the $10.7 million project widening the highway to five lanes from south shore bridge over Lake Hamilton to Highway 290, is getting ready to begin work.

City Engineer Gary Carnahan told the board the city needs to install the new line before Kiewit begins paving the northbound side of the road.

“(Kiewit) said they’d stay on the opposite side of the road for about a month,” he said. “If we could get that water main rebuilt during that period of time, they would stay out of our way and let us work on it while they’re continuing their roadway work.

“We feel like it’s an opportunity we need to take advantage of now. It will save us money in the future, and we won’t have to come back a year or two later and tear up the road again.”

The engineering department memo said acting now also allows the city to use RJN Group for project management. It was awarded a $216,555 contract last year to manage the relocation of city utilities from the Highway 7 south right of way.

The city is paying for the

12-inch upgrade with savings from its relocation contract with Diamond Construction Co. of North Little Rock. It was awarded a $1,827,747 contract last year to move city water and wastewater lines from the state’s right of way. A change order reduced the cost by

$210,002.

Diamond also bid on the installation of the 12-inch line but was outbid by Coakley, quoting a $285,360 cost.