Harward Sewer and Pump Station Upgrade

233667 Any chance Crooker drivers can be asked to slow down and stop overfilling their dump trucks? Signed Suffering on High Street

TJJackson, We expect an approximate 2 week closure of Winship Street.

How long can we expect the Winship Street Closure to last after it goes into effect on May 18th?

JD, I expect that this pump will be needed from now and through the first week of May. It will be shut down as soon as possible.

Sorry about error on previous question-I meant the pump between Washington and Barque. The pump has been going 24/7 for a week now and I’m wondering how much longer it will be in use and in that particular location.

Any sense of when the crews will be done with the temporary pump set up on the section between Washington and Harward?

Concerned Resident, thank you for reaching out. There are several questions to answer so I'll list them and answer each below.

I am hearing/seeing work being done well before 7am. Is there a city ordinance or contract details related to a start time for construction work on this project?
-Actual work (heavy equipment digging, loading dump trucks, etc.) is not supposed to start before 7am. This has been relayed to the contractor again so I would expect this to be resolved. Please let me know if it continues.

Is blasting still happening? I heard several extremely loud and jarring explosions/quakes on 4/21/2026 and 4/22/2026 that shook my house.
- Blasting on that end (Office Drive) continues on. They plan to be complete by 4/27, barring any unforeseen events.

Is there a way to mitigate the damage to Meadow Way and Office Drive that is happening from large earthworks vehicles traveling on rubber road streets? Additionally, is there a way to reduce the massive amount of dirt in the roads and air associated with this project?
-There will be some repaving on Office Drive at the end of the year. The contractor will now be sweeping the roads heavily used daily.

When will construction vehicles stop traveling on Meadow Way and Office drive associated with this project?
-I expect that there will be a slowing of activity around the beginning of May. After blasting this week, they will be removing the broken ledge rock off site and trucking in suitable fill. After that, we don't expect any more major activity in that area until August/September when they start installing the pipe. That schedule can change based on weather and other variables. There is an update every month under the "News feed" tab on this page.

Is there a way to provide an alternative entrance to the pathway construction fencing is blocking by Varnum field?
-You can walk around that fence in the daytime, it is setup to go across the construction road at night and is not meant to block the walking path. The contractor has been informed to set the fence to block the road each night. When they are not using the construction road during the day, that fence will be completely out of the way of the walking path.

I am hearing/seeing work being done well before 7am. Is there a city ordinance or contract details related to a start time for construction work on this project?

Is blasting still happening? I heard several extremely loud and jarring explosions/quakes on 4/21/2026 and 4/22/2026 that shook my house.

Is there a way to mitigate the damage to Meadow Way and Office Drive that is happening from large earthworks vehicles traveling on rubber road streets? Additionally, is there a way to reduce the massive amount of dirt in the roads and air associated with this project?

When will construction vehicles stop traveling on Meadow Way and Office drive associated with this project?

Is there a way to provide an alternative entrance to the pathway construction fencing is blocking by Varnum field?

Cbstanto, that area is being used as a staging area for Crooker Construction who were awarded the contract. This project is due to be wrapped up around April of 2027. The activity at that site will vary throughout that time period, as more sewer line and road work gets completed.

Is the plan to use the old Dike Newell school parking lot as a construction site/to house materials for the entirety of the project? Our property abuts the school lot, and we weren't expecting to be living at a construction site, since we actually live south of the entire zone that was outlined as being impacted by this project. We're in full support of this project, but definitely curious when the use of the parking lot will wrap up if you're able to share any rough timelines :)

JD, the goal was to have the blasting in that stretch completed by the end of this week (3/27). But due to saturated conditions and the ledge profile in the drilling area, the blasting of that corridor will continue this following week and is anticipated to be completed before the end of next week (4/3).

Is there any date by when the blasting on the stretch between Washington and Winship will be completed?

Jeff, it’s likely going to be 2-3 weeks. Weather events could cause some delays. However, there will be times when it is open outside of working hours as often as possible.

How long will Washington be blocked for? This information has not been readily available in any of the communications that I’ve been able to find. Thank you.

Chris,
Thank you for this question. Flooding from rain events and SLR considerations are factored into all sewer projects here in Bath. Please see your specific questions below with the associated answers.

What are the environmental design criteria for the proposed structure (level of impacts, duration of impacts, recurrence of impacts, relationship between the individual impacts (for example, the coincidence of local and remote impacts such as rainfall and tidal flooding)?

Climate resiliency has been incorporated into the design of this upgrade to better protect the Harward Street pump station’s critical infrastructure and allow the station to remain reliable during storm events. Two reports evaluated the potential impacts of climate change on the City of Bath infrastructure: the 2022 Climate Adaptation Plan by Wright-Pierce, and the 2024 Flood Vulnerability Assessment by GEI Consultants Inc. These studies identified climate hazards that threaten the Harward Street pump station and provided information to help inform upgrades to the station.
The horizontal portion of this project (gravity sewer lines in the ground) are doubled in size to allow more flow from wet weather events to travel to a pump station (Harward pump station) where it can be transported to the wastewater treatment plant for treatment. The vertical part of this project (Harward pump station upgrade) will install larger pumps at the lift station to transport more of the untreated wastewater to the treatment plant. This will help minimize pollution events caused by wet weather events. For the building itself, the City selected the design flood elevation of 11.0 ft (NAVD88) for the basis of design. The city also designed the pump station to be constructed with consideration of intermediate sea level rise projections, corresponding to year 2060. The selected design flood elevation of 11.0 is more conservative than the minimum code requirements, which will benefit the City in our desire to consider additional climate change scenarios.
What is the design life of this project?
The pump station will have an anticipated 35-year design life. The sewer lines are HDPE and have a useful life of between 50-100 years.
What is the connection, if any, between this project and the possible raising of the road elevation in this area to mitigate local flooding?
This project is independent of any future road raising considerations and would not affect this project if there is road raising in the future.
What effect will this project have on the larger drainage area issues beyond this immediate area?
The Bath sewer collection system is a combined sewer system (CSS). This means that we have relief points in the city that allow untreated wastewater to discharge into the Kennebec River during extreme flow events. This project will help minimize those occurrences.

A stormwater system in this area is subject to the stressors of local rainfall and flooding from the Kennebec River. The river flooding can have several components (rainfall floodwater propagating from upstream, high astronomical tides, storm surge from nor'easters and hurricanes downstream of Bath, and sea level rise due to climate change). All of these events come and go, with the exception of sea level rise that comes but doesn't go (it simply increases over time). Any engineering project has to account for the risk associated with each of these events.
What are the environmental design criteria for the proposed structure (level of impacts, duration of impacts, recurrence of impacts, relationship between the individual impacts (for example, the coincidence of local and remote impacts such as rainfall and tidal flooding)?
What is the design life of this project?
What is the connection, if any, between this project and the possible raising of the road elevation in this area to mitigate local flooding?
What effect will this project have on the larger drainage area issues beyond this immediate area?