The Massachusetts Water Resources Authority is expected to award a bid for a water pipe replacement and rehabilitation project spanning from Milton to Lower Mills at its Dec. 16 board meeting.

 The cost of the project, which will include the replacement of 9,200 feet of water pipe from East Milton Square to Lower Mills, has been put at about $20 million with a 3-1/2-year completion schedule, said MWRA spokeswoman Ria Convery. Depending on the weather, work could begin as early as February, she said.

 The section is the second phase of a project that includes a total of five construction contracts. For Phase I, the first two contracts were completed in June of 2005. The next contract was completed in January 2009 and included 4,400 feet of new water main from East Milton Square to Furnace Brook Parkway in Milton and Quincy.

 The next contract to be awarded launches Phase II and will include a new 48-inch water main between East Milton Square and Lower Mills and the cleaning and lining of 4,400 feet of existing water main, according to the MWRA.

 The purpose of the project is to build capacity and modernize the system, noted Convery. “This is a high priority. It’s the only pipeline that leads to Quincy,” she said. “We are trying to build in more capacity. Where there is a 10-inch pipe we are trying to make it a 12-inch pipe. We are cleaning and realigning the cast iron pipes, some of which have experienced build up from iron deposits.”
It’s likely that the work will begin at East Milton Square but that fact will not be definite until after the contract is awarded, Convery said. If so, it will “be a while” before the project gets started in Lower Mills, she added.
 – SUE ASCI