Light at the end of the tunnel......or, trench

BEATRICE - Some northeast Beatrice residents will have their water service off for a period of time, beginning Thursday. Water main replacement taking place along Monroe Street will require a new valve to be installed at the intersection of 14th and Monroe Street.

It's dependent on the weather, as city crews finish up what's been a busy season.

City Water Superintendent Steve Kelley says service will be interrupted for properties located on Monroe Street between Paddock Lane and 14th and on 13th Street between Park and Monroe for a short time.

"That will take about two hours to put in. Once that's in, we can actually isolate that and disconnect the old water main at 13th and Monroe."

The current valve is inoperable. Not far away, crews were doing work in a trench at 13th and Garfield, disconnecting an old main replaced by newer equipment.
The city crew work is separate from the big project privately contracted this year....downtown water main replacement along Court Street.

"Things have gone pretty smoothly. I know it's never a good time to do a downtown project...but that water main, we're estimating ...we know its over a hundred years old. It looks like it's about a hundred and ten years old....so it's time to get it replaced before we have a big problem"

Court Street work from Seventh to Ninth was being finished up with pressure and bacterial tests being done this week. A segment on Market Street a block south....from Third to Sixth would be the final part of the downtown project heading into November.