Meridian Reynolds
Historic homes along Walnut Street in North Vernon will be connected to new sewer lines under a city project that began March 1.
The City of North Vernon has started the long-awaited Walnut Street road construction project. Construction workers began on tree removal last week.
Business development manager for HWC Engineering, Tim Hunt, said: “Dave O’Mara Contracting Inc., is working to finalize the project construction schedule that will guide all the field activities for the next 18 months. The start of the Walnut Street (project) is critical and will require several tie-ins to existing storm and sanitary manholes to ensure continuous service for residence and property owners.”
In order to get prepared, they were required to remove trees along the sidewalks of Buckeye and Walnut (formerly U.S. 50) streets.
Russell Vaught of the North Vernon Water and Wastewater Department said: “Due to the depth of the existing sanitary sewer in this phase and the age of the system, some areas of the street will be excavated to depths in excess of 20 feet to install the new sanitary sewer lines. Progress will be slow and tedious.”
Slowly, the city will start to notice non-road work in and around the downtown area. The reason is that many houses along the road need water pipes replaced.
Some water and sewer lines are the oldest in the city and service homes built in the 1800s. They are some of the town’s oldest and most historic homes.
The project will be a set of eight phases carried out to finish this project so they will not interrupt everyday lives. Each phase will close one section of Walnut street so the entire road is not shut down.
This will mean only one section of the road will be closed at a time. There will be another street remaining open for the traffic and the city.
Construction crews will work with all affected parties to provide information and guidance throughout the project.
Meridian Reynolds is a Jennings High School student. Send comments to [email protected].
