A long running water service line improvement project is scheduled to be finished years earlier than expected.
Work will begin on the water line in early March on Skipper Joes Point and Marshall Point roads in Kennebunkport.
Kennebunk, Kennebunkport and Wells Water District Technical Services Director Don Gobeil and Construction Superintendent Scott Minor presented the updated plan during the Jan. 14 Kennebunkport Selectmen’s meeting.
The original line was installed between 1895 and 1910 and runs from Cape Porpoise to Biddeford Pool.
After eight years, the line suffered so much corrosion in the marsh areas that portions of the line were replaced. Periodic improvement projects have taken place in the intervening 100 years.
Gobeil and Minor told the board that generally the district would not take on such a large project at one time, but matching funds have become available from the Environmental Protection Agency. The project will run approximately 10,000 feet.
The EPA distributed $40 million state wide as part of the federal stimulus package passed last year.
At first, the water district did not receive any of that money for the new water lines, but every project awarded grant money from the state came under budget, Gobeil said.
The project was awarded $2.26 million in October in grant money and a zero percent interest loan over 20 years.
The water district has been slowly upgrading the current 10-inch line, replacing it with a 16-inch plastic line that will fare better against corrosion especially in the marsh areas.
After the line is replaced on Skipper Joes and Marshall points, the district will begin work on Kings Highway in April.
Following the work, construction crews hired by Kennebunkport will elevate a 1,200-foot section of Kings Highway around the intersection of Dyke Road by three feet. Another section on Dyke Road will be elevated by one foot. The areas have had numerous flooding problems during high tides.
Construction will be halted during peak summer months while the district works on other projects and pick up again in fall. If the project is not completed by winter, construction will continue in spring 2011.
According to Gobeil, the benefits to the new 16-inch line include water quality and reliability improvement with fire s uppression for fire departments.