West Springfield pipeline
project poised to start
By DAN MORIARTY
Staff Writer
WESTFIELD – The permitting process for any major project is arduous, but in the case of the West Springfield pipeline project slated to begin this summer, that process was four times as complex.
The pipeline line project begins at the West Springfield well field in Southwick, continues to the treatment plant in Westfield, and then travels through Westfield, Agawam and West Springfield.
Jeff Auer, Deputy Director of the Department of Public Works water division said the project entails installation of a 24-inch pipe line that will run 4.5 miles connecting the well field to the West Springfield water distribution center.
“The existing 16 inch, cast-iron pipeline was installed in the 1930s and is being replaced with a 24-inch ductile iron pipeline,” Auer said.
The pumping stations at the wells located in Southwick provide the pressure that pushes the water through the treatment plant located off Shaker Road in Westfield and through the pipeline.
Auer said the current system can deliver about 5.5 million gallons a day to West Springfield water customers, but the city is allowed to draw up to 7 million gallons a day under the state Department of Environmental Protection permit.
“There will be a cost savings because it will be easier to push the water through the larger pipe,” Auer said. “The DEP estimates an electric savings of about $100,000 a year.”
The Westfield Conservation Commission issued an order of conditions in November, 2011 for the pipeline installation project. West Springfield, through Tighe & Bond Engineering, the project consultant, repeated that permitting process in the three other communities.
“We also had to get permits from the state OT (Department of Transportation) because the pipeline runs along a section of the state highway (Route 20) and from CSX because it also runs through the railroad property,” Auer said.
One of the last permits issued for the $7 million pipeline portion of the project was approved by the DEP in late January. The DEP Waterways Regulation Program reviewed the project which crosses over or under four water courses, including the Westfield River between Agawam and West Springfield.
Auer said that the project was further complicated by the fact that the new pipeline could not follow the route of the existing line because neighborhoods were developed after the original line was installed.
“We can’t follow the old canal where the existing line is located because structures have been built too close to the line,” he said.
West Springfield petitioned Westfield officials to allow it to use the city’s water pipeline right of way, a request approved by the City Council at its Oct. 6, 2011, meeting, for installation of the new line.
While most of the project will have limited impact on Westfield residents because the pipeline generally goes cross-country, the Board of Public Works also had to approve the project because a short section of the new pipeline will be installed under Shaker Road, Pontoosic and Feeding Hills roads. One issue of that work is that both Pontoosic and Feeding Hills roads were recently paved. West Springfield will repave Pontoosic Road curb to curb, but will only pave the trench dug along Feeding Hills Road because the state will reconstruct that road as part of the Route 187 reconstruction project. The state improvements to Feeding Hills Road, which include drainage, are slated to begin in 2013.
West Springfield also petition Springfield to use its water pipeline right of way through Westfield for part of the project.
The town also has to initiate the project in a very compressed timeline. The project contract has to be awarded by April 1, 2012 to qualify West Springfield for funding through a low-interest state revolving grant program. The portion of the pipeline along Feeding Hills Road has to be completed before the state DOT project to reconstruct Feeding Hills Road is initiated in 2013.
Auer said the project will be phased over 18 months because some of the work will be done in environmentally sensitive areas and needs to be scheduled during time periods when the impact is minimal.
“It’s a very complicated project, something that does not happen very often,” he said.
Dan Moriarty can be reached at [email protected]
