Contract awarded for reconstruction of S. Mellon Ave.

GREENWICH TWP. The township council has awarded a $188,519.73 contract for the reconstruction of a portion of South Mellon Avenue.

The contract was awarded to Asphalt Paving Systems, the sole bidder, and includes reconstruction of South Mellon Avenue from Harmony Road to Rosenthal Avenue.

The water and sewer mains will be replaced in that portion of road, and gutter work will be performed from Rosenthal Avenue to Broad Street, according to township Clerk Lori Biermann.

The work is part of a five-year plan to reconstruct or repave all of the township's roads.

For portions of the township with older water and sewer lines, Shivery said, the goal was to replace them at the same time that the roads were repaired.

"Some of the pipes there could be 30 to 60 or 70 years old, depending on where in town they are," Shivery said.

This particular section of water and sewer lines was recommended to be repaired by the township's water and sewer supervisor, Shivery said, and they're "absolutely" in need of repair.

"We're trying to repair the worst first," he said. "In another two years, we should be towards the end of the project where we've got everything in town covered."

The next step, Shivery said, will be to come up with a preventative maintenance plan for the township's roads and pipes. So much work has had to be done in the last few years because the infrastructure hadn't been maintained, he said.

"As we go along, you have to replace these things," he said. "They don't last forever, unfortunately."

Two water pre-treatment plants that were installed over the past two years will also help with that endeavor, Shivery said.

"Because of the water condition being better, these pipes are going to last longer than the previous ones," he said. "The high iron and magnesium concentration in the water had caused a massive build-up in the pipes, to the point where we'd pull out a 5-inch pipe but water was only moving through one inch."