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New River Water Intake Project to Receive Additional Funds for Water Treatment Plant Repairs

By Nathan Ham

The New River Water Intake project is nearing the finish line with the project currently sitting at 174 days remaining on the contract.

At the May 17 Boone Town Council meeting, a request from the Harper Corporation to add in an additional $1,004,392 to the existing cost of the project was made. According to a letter presented by W.K. Dickson & Co., a consulting group for the project, the funds will go towards “repair and maintenance items at the town’s water treatment plant that have been deferred in the past.”

The letter states that some of the various maintenance items consisted of lighting replacement, electrical component replacement, concrete repairs, painting, new equipment installation, roof replacements and overall site improvements.

Some of the light fixtures and electrical junction boxes have been the same ones that were installed when the plant was built in 1981, according to Josh Eller, the Public Works Deputy Director for the Town of Boone. Eller was at the meeting and spoke briefly to the town councilmembers.

The contract date of the project will not have to be extended, according to the consulting group.

The town council unanimously approved the additional funds for repairs.

In an update provided by the Town of Boone, the Harper Corporation is continuing its work at the water treatment plant, the water intake site and at the Brownwood Road booster pump station.

The upcoming work will focus on replacement of the three remaining filters at the water treatment plant. Work on the concrete surfaces on the backside of the building will begin as well as crack repair and the application of a new interior coating in the existing well.

In addition to the water treatment plant work, crews working at the intake site have been drilling to remove rock within the infiltration gallery and have started excavation. When the excavation is completed, crews will begin installing the piping.

At the booster pump site, pipe testing has started and crews will soon start constructing the walls of the structure.

Piping work continues at the New River Bridge on Highway 421. Once that section of piping is completed, the remaining portions of the project will be flushed and inspected. At Brownwood Road, milling of the patched sections of the road has been completed and an asphalt overlay is expected in the next few weeks.

With the recent heavy rains, several sand bags were dislodged on the coffer dam at the water intake, according to Boone Town Manager John Ward. 

“Crews are assessing if there was any other damage as waters recede,” Ward added. 

The contractor flooded the area they were working in inside the coffer dam in the hopes of limiting any flood damage, Ward said.