Water Main Repair and Installation Work Underway in Missoula

Missoula, MT (KGVO-AM News) - Missoula’s Public Works and Mobility Department has undertaken several repair projects involving water main replacements this spring, which will continue through the summer and into the fall.

I spoke with Andy Schultz, City Engineer for Utilities about some of the projects that might delay traffic or cause some unavoidable detours.

Springtime Means Road, Sewer, and Water Main Repairs

“We just want to notify the public that we're going to have a bunch of water main projects happening this summer, which is a continuation of investment that the city has been making in into the water system over the last four years or so,” began Schultz.  “We've got a number of projects that are kicking off. They're either underway or kicking off here in early April.”

Schultz provided a few examples of the work his crews will be performing as weather permits.

There are Various Repair Projects Underway all Over Missoula

“Right now, for example, we've got one that's already started and about wrapped up,” he said. “It's a pretty small one, but we've got the water main on Dickens and McCormick, so we'll be affecting Toole Street for about a block. There are reader boards in place right now. That's going to start on Monday, and that'll last probably about three weeks or so.”

Schultz said a number of the water mains and pipes are quite old and have been leaking thousands of gallons of water back down into the aquifer below Missoula.

“We have a very high leakage rate in the water system from these old pipes,” he said. “A lot of these projects we're working on, the pipes are from the early 1900’s and some are from the 1940’s but that was pipe that was never intended to be buried underground, so it's very thin walled, and it springs leaks. However, we're in the somewhat fortunate position that our soils are porous enough that the water just leaks back down into the aquifer. That’s why we don't see water shooting 100 feet in the sky when a water main breaks, usually it's going down into the aquifer."

Fortunately, Water Leakage Drops Back Down Into the Aquifer

Schultz described one project that will be starting soon in mid-town Missoula, near the Post Office.

“We'll also have a project starting on Kensington, over by the post office, that will close down about three blocks of Kensington,” he said. “We will also be installing a water main across Stevens Avenue, but it won't affect Stevens Avenue traffic. We’ll be boring that water main underneath Stevens Avenue, not open-cutting it.”

Get details on the important infrastructure work being done by clicking here.

Water main projects help reduce water leakage and improve the reliability of city water service.