Cookeville making progress on the project to replace waterlines along South Jefferson Avenue.
Water and Sewer Department Director Barry Turner said the city is replacing a four-inch and a ten-inch waterline that extends from I-40 to Regan Street. Turner said the city is replacing the lines to get them out from underneath the street and into the right-of-way. Turner said so far the project has gone smoothly.
“He is actually making real good time especially being in the congested part of the city there on South Jefferson and he has worked with, and the property owners have worked with us,” Turner said. “So you know, I’m real thankful for the way they have been real cooperative cause he has had to block some entrances and such.”
Turner said the contractor was not able to begin replacing the lines until this past October, as there was a delay in receiving the materials for the project. Turner said the contractor expects to complete the project by the end of June.
“He’s got the main line already laid pretty much from the interstate all the way up to the courthouse there, and presently he is connecting people from the old line to the new line,” Turner said.
Turner said the old waterlines were made out of cast iron and caused several issues for the city.
“We have had breaks on it,” Turner said. “We have had to make repairs out in the road, and when you have a leak out in the road like that, the patch is never that good, and you end up with sort of a wavy road where the water has disturbed the pavement.”
Turner said the new waterlines will now only require the city to disturb some of the sidewalk rather than the road to fix water leaks in the line.
