ND North News

Two major projects are under way to replace aging water lines in areas of northwest and southwest Minot.

Several roadways are being worked north and east of Longfellow Elementary School, with the main work happening on a stretch of 7th Avenue NW from 16th Street NW to 8th Street NW. Water lines are also being replaced on 15th Street NW, 14th Street NW, 13th Street NW, 12th Street NW, 11th Street NW, 10th Street NW, and Normal Street.

Utilities Director Jason Sorenson said the work happening on 7th Avenue NW is a collaboration with the City’s engineering department.

“We’re doing all the underground work to replace the water mains, and then engineering will completely rebuild the road from curb to curb,” Sorenson said. “It was a great opportunity to tag team with a project engineering needed to do and to get this work done in one season.”

Homes in the construction zone were set up with a temporary water system. As part of the project, crews will also install new curb stops at every house.

“A lot of these old pipes are cast iron, so we want to make sure everything is new when we are finished with this project,” Sorenson said.

The work on 7th Avenue NW near Longfellow Elementary School is scheduled to be done before school resumes in late August.

“We are aware of our surroundings and we plan projects so that we don’t shut down roads near schools when classes are in session unless it’s absolutely unavoidable,” Sorenson said. “We know that 7th Avenue NW carries a lot of traffic when school is in session, and we’ve adjusted our construction schedule accordingly.”

Another major project is happening in the neighborhood to the north and east of Jim Hill Middle School on several streets in an area between 6th Street SW and 2nd Street SW, and between 10th Avenue SW and 5th Avenue SW.

“We’ve done some spot water main projects in that area over the years, a block here and a block there,” Sorenson said. “So now we’re replacing some larger sections of water main to connect those smaller projects and get more of that cast iron pipe out of the ground and replaced with PVC.”

Residents won’t see as much roadway dug up on this project. Instead, much of the water line replacement will be done through a process called pipe-bursting.

“This way, we don’t have to remove as much asphalt. They dig a spot on each end of a stretch of roadway and pull a new pipe through the old pipe,” Sorenson said, adding that this project will also prepare for new service connections to be installed at each house.”

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