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A project to install a new storm sewer line serving much of College Hill will resume as early as Wednesday, according to Bruce Ferretti, director of physical planning and plant operations. Work will start on Pierce Street from its intersection with Hamilton Street and continue on Detrich Road, finishing at the intersection of Detrich and Bushkill Drive.
Mobilization of equipment and other preparations will begin as early as today. Funded by Lafayette, the project is expected to last a couple months.
A crew from By-State Construction Company in Easton will work from 7:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m. to break up roadway, dig trenches, excavate rocks, and install the sewer line, which will run along the south side of Pierce Street under the sidewalk. No blasting will be involved.
Dust should not be a significant problem for local residents, Ferretti says. However, parking may be unavailable on sections of Pierce Street during the project. Also, traffic may be reduced to one lane at times.
The project was necessitated by construction of Kirby Sports Center, which straddles the existing 36-inch diameter storm sewer line that runs under Fisher Field and discharges to Bushkill Creek. The facility interferes with the desired slope of the line. As a temporary solution, a spool piece was installed to redirect the water. Permanent correction of the angle of water flow required two phases: installation of a line on Hamilton Street, which has been completed, and making a 90-degree turn to connect that portion of line with a Pierce Street section.
To make way for the second phase, utility poles along Pierce Street and Detrich Road were moved in the first half of this year.