CLARKSBURG, W.Va. — The comprehensive Clarksburg water system upgrade due to lead services is one of three major projects residents and businesses are enduring. There are active projects with the Thrasher Group in the Stealey, Hartland, North View, Main Street, and Pike Street areas of the city that are expected to be completed by December 2027.
On WAJR’s “Talk of the Town,” Trasher Group representative Bobby Tinney said recent leaks and service disruptions are a result of the upgrade. When the system is taken off-line and then repressurized, the older lines in the system sometimes burst or split.
“Sunday we had a blowout on Milford Street, and I believe Monday we had the one in Adamston,” Tinney said. “It’s a product of what we’re doing, and it’s going to keep happening.”
The water system project is valued at about $60 million dollars and is in addition to a $10 million project by the Clarksburg Sewer Board and a Hope Gas project valued at $9 to $10 million. Tinney said it’s nearly impossible to drive through Clarksburg without encountering construction, and he said that won’t change anytime soon.
“We actually have 117,000 feet of main transmission line we’re replacing,” Tinney said. “There will be 965 valves replaced, 225 fire hydrants, and right around 2,400 customer services.”
Tinney said when 67 percent or more of the service lines in a project area are determined to contain lead, they are all replaced. Lead was never found or suspected in the main lines, a common misconception in the public.
“When you see that line that’s being replaced, it must be lead. No, it goes back to that 67 percent formula,” Tinney said. “If it’s 67 percent or more, we’re replacing it because of the services—the main transmission lines don’t have any lead.”
The project is under the Build America, Buy America Act, which Tinney said is a good thing, but it can lead to supply chain issues that change the sequence of operations. Because of the order, especially for brass fittings, contractors have done the main work, and then as parts become available, they excavate the lines again for installation.
General Manager of the Clarksburg Water Board, Tinney, along with Hope Gas and the Clarksburg Sewer Board, have coordinated their work downtown so when the state Department of Highways paves downtown streets late this year or early next year, no cuts in the new surface will be required.
The new pavement is expected to be completed by this time next year.
“We couldn’t just make the contractor wait until you get that in to start because we’re under that October 31 DOH deadline,” Tinney said. “So, we have to let them go ahead.”
The next phase of the upgrade is currently under design and will go out for bid early next year. So, next construction season will be similar to this one, but the CWB project should be the only major project residents will have to deal with.
“It should be out to bid after the first of the year, and once the weather breaks in the spring, those projects will be starting,” Tinney said. “So, it’s going to get worse before it gets better.”