Construction crews will be out on the road for three days beginning Thursday as part of a project to repair the sewer line along the Melvin Evans Highway.
According to Stella Saunders of the V.I. Waste Management Authority, the preliminary work is part of the larger project slated to begin later this month.
The $1.6 million project is funded by the U.S. Department of Interior.
Workers from O’Reilly Plumbing and Construction, a local firm, will open manholes along the 3,600 feet of the project route to evaluate the conditions prior to the commencement of the project.
The area of the highway affected will be from the intersection of the highway with Container Port Road, where the Hovensa Training School sits, west along the highway past Diageo and across the Renaissance industrial park to the Anguilla wastewater treatment plant.
The workers will go down into the manholes to assess the sewer’s condition and check pipe elevations, Saunders said. After each manhole is inspected it will be resealed to reduce the smell in the neighboring areas.
Saunders said the authority will increase the frequency of odor control locally and from the Fig Tree Pump Station and will work to control odor for the duration of the project.
In the major portion of the project, the workers will "slip line" the sewer pipes. That is, they will insert a permeable lining which allows for trenchless repairs to the sewer line. Saunders said the technology allows for limited digging and impact to the infrastructure, and will save a significant amount of both time and money.
Lining the sewer also restores the structural integrity of the pipe, reduces root intrusion and improves flow capacity, she said.