By Doug Hazlett
Special to the Pioneer Times
Despite the cool and wet summer, reconstruction efforts on Bangor Street in Houlton are proceeding on schedule. The two-year project called for the coordination of efforts between the Houlton Water Company and Ed Pelletier & Sons Co., the Madawaska-based construction company who won the reconstruction bid.Pioneer Times photo/Mark Putnam
HOULTON’S BIG DIG — Despite the cool and wet summer, reconstruction efforts on Bangor Street in Houlton are proceeding on schedule. The biggest, and most difficult, portion of the project involved the replacement of a large box culvert that carries Pearce Brook under Bangor Street at the junction of Sugarloaf and Military streets.
As of the end of August the Houlton Water Company’s part of the effort is 90 percent completed, with 6,500 linear feet of water line replaced, new fire hydrants installed, the replacement of existing sewer lines, the addition of 1,600 feet of new sewer lines, and a new pumping station.
The biggest, and most difficult, portion of the project involved the replacement of a large box culvert that carries Pearce Brook under Bangor Street at the junction of Sugarloaf and Military streets. Replacing the 16-foot deep old culvert with a 20-ton replacement required an overnight, round-the-clock effort by the contractor and the complete diversion of Pearce Brook around the construction site. This massive effort was completed on August 28.
The replacement of this culvert will protect the area from the possibility of flooding and improve the quality of the brook for fish habitat.
Replacing the culvert was one of the last portions of the underground work, and by mid-September work will begin on excavating the road surface, installing a new base, and installing curbs and sidewalks. The first layer of new pavement will finalize this year’s construction effort, and in the spring the final layer of pavement will be applied.Pioneer Times photo/Mark Putnam
HUGE CULVERT — Workers from Ed Pelletier & Sons Co. of Madawaska replaced the original 16-foot deep traditional culvert on Bangor Street last week with a 20-ton, box-style culvert.
We have been very happy with the efforts of Ed Pelletier & Sons. They have managed the one-way traffic diversion very well and worked their hardest to keep dust to a minimum. It has been a challenge for the businesses located on Bangor Street, and every effort has been make to keep business disruption to a minimum. When completed we will have a quality road that will serve businesses and residents very well.
For everyone who has navigated potholes and been forced to live with a perpetually mud covered car … take heart … the end is near.
Doug Hazlett is Houlton’s town manager. He can be reached at 532-7111 or via e-mail at town.manager@houlton-maine.com.