Water and Sewer Utility Improvements Project

Two downtown streets (South Main Street and Bay Road) in Newmarket, NH had aging and undersized water and sewer piping in urgent need of replacement.

Replacement of these utilities with new, appropriately-sized water piping and appurtenances is a critical component in providing a modern water distribution system in Newmarket, which will help citizens both now and into the future.

Along South Main Street this project replaced 3,250 feet of the existing water main, which was more than 100 years old and long overdue for replacement. This water main is a critical component of the overall functionality of the Town’s water distribution infrastructure.

The water main services neighborhoods within the project limits, provides both domestic and fire protection water for the Newmarket Junior/Senior High School complex, and connects to the Packers Falls Road water main. It is also a transmission route for system water sourced from Town wells further outside of Town along NH Route 152. If this outdated water main had failed prior to replacement, the ability of Newmarket to provide water to area customers would have been severely compromised.

Design and installation of the new water main accounted for multiple factors. The existing service area, future system growth, and life-safety concerns at the schools and other institutions along the water main route needed to be considered when sizing the new main. It was also critical to schedule construction during summer months when schools were out of session.

The new water main and appurtenances were designed and detailed to conform to Town standards, along with appropriate Hew Hampshire Department of Environmental Services (NHDES) and American Water Works Association (AWWA) regulations. Fuss & O’Neill included a temporary water system with appropriate fire protection provisions in the project’s construction requirements, and individual water service replacements were evaluated with the Town and incorporated into the project design.

For the Bay Road portion of this utility improvement project, approximately 1,900 feet of aged existing water and sewer piping were replaced. This portion of the project also included reconstruction of the existing roadway through the project limits and the addition of a new sidewalk.

The water main along Bay Road was more than 100 years old and long overdue for replacement. An abutting neighborhood was concurrently being connected to the Bay Road water system; therefore, our design for the new water main needed to consider this increase in demand when sizing the water main.

The sewer mains along Bay Road are gravity fed down to a pump station located in the center of the project area. Sewer flows to the pump station had to be analyzed to aid in the design and sizing of the replacement sewer main on Bay Road, with a proposed 400+ unit future development included in the flow volumes.

The conditions of existing sewer manholes were evaluated for replacement, and replacement of individual sewer service connections was included in the project design.

One challenge present in both project areas was installation of utilities in areas with very shallow large ledge layers. Subsurface investigations were performed during design to locate potential ledge areas, and pipe routing was adjusted as much as possible to avoid these areas.

An additional challenge was that U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) project funding required the specification of alternative materials for water main replacement beyond just ductile iron pipe. Fuss & O’Neill researched and developed a specification for C909 PVCO pressure pipe for this application. Coordination with the Town for future maintenance of this type of pipe also was essential to this aspect of the project.

Fuss & O’Neill’s survey crew conducted a comprehensive field survey of both project areas. This survey effort included: right-of-way locating; existing utility locating; and topographic survey of existing roads, sidewalks, driveways, and other abutting features; etc.

Due to the project schedule, our surveyors worked around some weather-related impacts (snow storms, snow banks, etc.) to provide an accurate and comprehensive existing conditions plan that became the base mapping for the project design.

Fuss & O’Neill provided construction inspection services to the Town of Newmarket for the construction of this project. Our trained and experienced field staff provided full-time construction inspection, monitoring, project management, and project administration.

We coordinated with the USDA’s assigned engineer to ensure all payment applications, change orders, and close out documents were completed to their standards. We coordinated daily with members of Town staff for water shutoffs, sewer bypassing, and abutter coordination issues.

This project was designed, bid, and successfully constructed within its projected timeframe and without major disruptions to service for water and sewer customers. Construction was completed under the original project budget. The project was funded by USDA Rural Development grants and loans, and was a successful component of the Town of Newmarket’s efforts to upgrade their water and sewer infrastructure.