Underground Construction - October 2021 - 16

Tiny Town Raises Funds, Manages Utility Overhaul
deep underground in concrete encased duct banks, linked together
by massive electrical vaults/manholes for distribution to each home.
Placed atop the Dominion electric duct banks is an array of
Verizon copper and fiber conduit, and a town-owned fiber optic
conduit, with hand holes and distribution boxes along the route.
The town currently is negotiating for broadband fiber internet
service. The town-owned street light conduit system was built
separately, largely under the new sidewalk system.
The dry utilities were meticulously designed, in close
collaboration, by Dominion, Verizon and the town's engineering
design/construction management firm Volkert; and constructed
by the highway project contractor, Archer Western.
The homes were extremely close to the major roadway that
went through town and communication on all levels was
conducted daily among the team to give each property owner a
sense of trust that individual needs came first.
Electric, telephone and fiber-optic conduit trunklines were
installed in the same trench and, where achievable, the service
laterals and service to homes were likewise combined in
common trench.
Because of the historic nature of the homes and the aged
infrastructure in place, nearly a dozen in-home service panels
required replacement, retrofitting or repositioning to accept the
underground electric service.
The town organized and hired an electrician to complete this
work, which had to be carefully coordinated with Dominion and
the construction contractor.
Collaboration and close communication between the town and
its contractor, Dominion and Verizon was essential, especially
in the coordination of switchover of service and the subsequent
removal of all overhead cables and removal of all utility poles. This
level of coordination and accommodation resulted in significant
savings in costs and time, ultimately critical to the project's
overall on-time, on-budget performance.
Wet utilities
This project included replacing the entire Hillsboro waterworks
distribution mains and laterals, completing a new well water source
and new storage facilities, and upgrading the waterworks plant.
Shirley Construction built the new water well. The storage
facilities and waterworks, as water distribution systems, were
included in the road project contract and built by Archer Western.
When the new water source was brought online, it ended a more
than two-decade Boil Water Notice and Consent Order for the
town. Previously, the old system's water source was a spring, for
about 200 years.
Also included in the road project was the installation of a lowpressure
force main wastewater collection system and laterals to
each property.
The town has no existing wastewater system; all [homes and
building] have their own private septic systems, including a
number of pump and haul locations and cesspools. Project scope
was expanded to extend both water and wastewater mains to
reach all homes beyond the Route 9 corridor and the next phase
of the project will be the installation of a town-owned wastewater
treatment plant for the mains to connect to.
All private septic tanks will be decommissioned and removed,
and existing drain fields abandoned. This work is anticipated for
completion by spring 2022.
The road project also included an extensive and complete
underground stormwater collection system that extends the entire
length of the project.
Previously, only a rudimentary stormwater management system
of ditches and culverts existed, which was inadequate to handle
Removing one of the utility poles after cable was placed underground.
16 OCTOBER 2021 | UCONonline.com
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Underground Construction - October 2021

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