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Water Main Replacement Planned in Old Saybrook

If you regularly travel along Great Hammock Road, your trip may take a few extra minutes between April and June. Connecticut Water Company will be undertaking a three-month long project to replace the water main pipe under Great Hammock and Plum Bank roads.

The target area is a 1.5 mile right-of-way that includes Great Hammock Road, starting at the Old Boston Post Road, and Plum Bank Road. The project scope is to replace the existing 10-inch diameter cast-iron pipe with a new 12-inch diameter ductile-iron pipe.

The work will include two contractor crews and two distinct daily work sites along this stretch of road.

“One lane of traffic will be open throughout the project,” said Dan Lesnieski, infrastructure rehabilitation manager for Connecticut Water Company. “Town police will provide traffic control.”

If this water main replacement is not finished in June, Connecticut Water Company’s contractors will halt work temporarily during the summer months. Contractors would then re-mobilize in September to finish the work, if needed.

“The reason we are replacing the pipes is due to their age and the soil conditions in the marsh areas, which are corrosive [to the pipes]. We have had a number of water main breaks,” said Lesnieski. “The issue is the reliability and integrity of the existing water mains.”

This water main replacement project is part of the Connecticut Water Company’s water infrastructure replacement program that began in 2008.

“We try to replace one percent of the water infrastructure in our system each year,” said Lesnieski.