Egypt Road in Damariscotta will be closed to through traffic for the last two weeks of September to allow for a major culvert replacement between Budweiser Lane and Cedar Lane.
From Sept. 17 to Oct. 1, S.R. Griffin Construction Inc., of Edgecomb, will replace the two small culverts on site with an 8-foot culvert, according to Town Manager Matt Lutkus. The project is a necessity due to the inadequacy of the two existing culverts and the destabilizing effect the culverts have had on the road, Lutkus said.
“If we were to have a large rainstorm, there were concerns that we could have a catastrophic collapse of the culverts,” Lutkus said. “This has definitely been a priority for us, and now we have the funding to complete it.”
“We’re asking for folks to plan ahead for the next two weeks and avoid the site for the sake of everyone’s safety,” Lutkus said.
In November 2016, Damariscotta voters approved two bond measures totaling more than $500,000. Approximately $60,000 was set aside for the Egypt Road culvert replacement.
The rest of the funds came from other capital reserves, including $15,000 from the delayed paving of the section of Belvedere Road between Main Street and Route 1, and carry-forward funds from the 2016-2017 public works budget.
The total cost of the project is $140,000. S.R. Griffin Construction originally submitted a bid for $154,000, but Wright-Pierce, the engineering firm working with the town, and town staff were able to negotiate a lower cost, Lutkus said. The town agreed to eliminate the final paving of the road from the contract, provide a site for the storage of materials near the construction site, and purchase the materials for the project.
