Published: September 04, 2008 12:56 am      

Water service to NMHS interrupted

Two lines hit by accident during construction; two residences affected

FAIRMONT — Water service to North Marion High School and two nearby residences was interrupted Wednesday when workers constructing the slated Fairmont-to-Mannington waterline along U.S. Route 250 hit two unmarked service lines.

Fairmont Utilities Manager Dave Sago said the lines were hit by accident while workers from Mike Enyart & Sons Inc. were trenching for the project. The service interruption caused students at the high school to be released at noon Wednesday.

Mike Enyart & Sons is a South Point, Ohio-based firm working on the first of the project’s three construction contracts. Employees have been working along the roadway since construction began in late July. When finished, an 8-inch, 13-mile public waterline will be constructed from Fairmont to Mannington to service the western city’s customer base.

Sago said late Wednesday afternoon that service had been restored to the area after employees from the nearby Downs Public Service District worked together with the contracted workers, the city and project engineers Greenhorne and O’Mara, and fixed the problem.

“Everybody —Fairmont, Enyart & Sons, Downs PSD, and Greenhorne and O’Mara — worked together to get the water restored,” Sago said. “Fast action by all entities involved got it back up and running. Everything seems to be back in shape. It was good work by everybody involved.”

And since construction began, Sago said this is the first problem that the city has had with the project. He said the lines, which are located just below the high school, were hit because they were not marked properly, and that no one was really in error.

“It is unfortunate, but any time you have construction, things like this happen,” he said. “In six weeks of construction, this is the first problem we’ve had.”

He added that the rest of the project has been running smoothly, with the final completion date slated for March of 2009. The project was officially contracted in 2005 and hit several snags with rights-of-way acquirement and planning issues before finally beginning construction around July 21.

Superintendent of Schools James Phares said his office was alerted last week that water service may be occasionally interrupted to North Marion High until the project progresses beyond the school. Phares said he believed construction officials had checked maps and other materials, but many of them were out of date.

He noted NMHS classes may have to be suspended in the coming days because of water problems, at least until the project moves beyond the high school.

Also, classes at Monongah Middle School were canceled Wednesday because of an electricity problem. Classes at both schools were set to resume today, Phares said.

E-mail Mallory Panuska at mpanuska@timeswv.com.

Reporter Katie Wilson also contributed to this story.