EVERETT — The city’s oldest drinking water pipeline is deteriorating and has to be replaced.
Updating the 80-year-old steel water line that stretches across two rivers and sensitive wetlands is a big and expensive job. Work started in the 1990s and will continue over phases for years to come.
This summer, a $27 million piece of the pipeline replacement project is expected to begin on the western half of Ebey Island, south of the U.S. 2 trestle.
The project involves replacing nearly a mile of two elevated 48-inch-diameter steel pipelines. Combined, the lines are capable of delivering to customers 50 million gallons of drinking water per day.
“This is the place in the pipeline where it is under the most pressure,” said Jim Miller, an engineering supervisor with the city’s public works department. “It’s a piece that’s most vulnerable to breaking if they don’t fix it soon.”
Some parts of the oldest of the two steel lines have separated, forcing the city to make repairs. Miller said the breaks have not affected water quality. The second line, which is 75 years old, is also being replaced.
Repair work is not expected to disrupt service or affect traffic on U.S. 2. The pipeline runs below the highway.
Everett Utilities, run under an enterprise fund by city’s public works department, supplies water to more than 500,000 people in several Snohomish County communities, including Everett, Lake Stevens, Snohomish, Monroe, Lynnwood and Marysville.
That number is predicted to grow to 1 million by 2050.
All 25 miles of the city’s oldest pipeline between Spada Lake in the Cascade Mountains and Everett is on pace to be completed by 2015 for a cost of about $90 million, Miller said.
The city has four pipelines from the Sultan River Basin. Three supply drinking water for about 80 percent of the county’s residents. Two of the lines cross Snohomish River near U.S. 2. One crosses farther south near Rotary Park.
One built in the 1960s feeds millions of gallons per day to Kimberly Clark’s tissue factory on Everett’s waterfront.
The Ebey Island stretch of pipeline is particularly difficult to replace because it is critical habitat for endangered Chinook salmon and protected species.
The project’s engineering plans are more than 500 pages long and include comments and permits from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Washington State Department of Ecology, and the Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife.
The project requires driving piles 60 to 100 feet into the Snohomish River estuary.
Work is done on other challenging stretches of terrain below the Pilchuck River, the Snohomish River and Ebey Slough.
The city is set to open contractor bids on March 18. Three years ago, the city put the project out to bid but ultimately rejected proposals from three contractors because they all came in millions of dollars higher than the city engineer’s $16 million estimate.
This time, at least five contractors are bidding on the project, which is now estimated to cost $26.6 million.
Work could begin as soon as summer. Construction is expected to last about two years.
Reporter David Chircop: 425-330-3429 or dchircop@heraldnet.com.
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