Monroe County is now three months into the construction phase of its ongoing $16.3 million project to bring county water to 852 homes in the Juliette/Rum Creek area.
Construction is moving along smoothly on Phase 1, which encompasses much of Hwy. 18 as well as all of Edge Road, Jenkins Road and Lee King Road. Phase 1’s tentative completion date remains the end of February 2021. However, the first portion of Phase 1, which includes Hwy. 18, Abares Road and Camellia Drive, could be finished by the end of 2020.
John R. Walker, Inc., of Macon, is the contractor on the first portion of Phase 1 while United Grading & Excavating, of Fairburn, is the contractor on the second and third portions of Phase 1. Of the 852 total homes serviced with county water by this project, 374 of them (44%) will receive water as part of Phase 1.
Also. the county’s engineering firm, Carter Engineering, of Macon, has completed engineering plans for the first portion of Phase 2 of the project, which will encompass the remainder of Hwy. 18 eastbound up to its intersection with Hwy. 87. It will also include Hwy. 87 northbound up to its intersection with Newton Road as well as Christian Road. Future portions of Phase 2 will include Juliette Road through the town of Juliette as well as McCrackin Street, Newton Road, Marvin Circle, Hilltop St., Bowdoin Road, Turkey Run Road, Wind Clan Road, Roseberry Shoals, Old Juliette Road, Woodland Way and Pine Lane Trail.
Monroe County began advertising for bid late last month for construction work on the first portion of Phase 2. The first portion of Phase 2 is the longest single portion of the project, encompassing about 57,300 feet of 12-inch water main, 11,040 feet of 8-inch water main and 1,260 feet of 6-inch water main.
However, with Phase 1 continuing on schedule, Monroe County has been forced to delay accepting construction bids for Phase 2 at this time. In a notice sent to all bidders on Friday, Oct. 9, Monroe County stated it will re-advertise for Phase 2 construction shortly after Jan. 1, 2021.
The reason for the previously unforeseen delay is that the cost of PVC pipe has gone up considerably in the last several months as a result of two major hurricanes, Hurricane Laura in August and Hurricane Delta last weekend, hitting the Lake Charles, La. area, where four leading PVC resin producers have plants. Westlake Chemical, one of the U.S.’s leading suppliers of PVC resin, has a major plant in Lake Charles that had to declare force majeure because power outages and damage to the plant had disrupted its resin supply production. The chain effect is that the cost of PVC pipe nationally has soared and is expected to crest at 40% higher than normal costs for this time of year. Therefore, Monroe County has paused Phase 2 construction for up to 90 days until PVC costs have come back down closer to levels obtained for Phase 1 construction.
Monroe County remains fully committed to providing county water in a timely manner to all 852 homes to be serviced by the project. Carter Engineering will continue its efforts in the meantime to finalize engineering work on Phase 2, as well as Phase 3, with plans for construction on each of those phases to take place in 2021.
Stay tuned for future updates on the county’s website www.monroecoga.org or its “Monroe County Board of Commissioners” Facebook page.
