Delays Set New Timeline For Water Plant Project

The timeline to complete upgrades to the Byrdstown Water Plant Project has been pushed back several months.

Mayor Sam Gibson said the project got off to a rough start as the dynamite crew took longer than expected to blast rock.

“They lost their subcontractor so they had to kind of regroup for that,” Gibson said. “And then they got one and that put them back a little bit. Also, there was a little more rock there probably and it didn’t blast out as well as they expected. So they got behind on that part also.”

Gibson said cold and wet weather has played a big role in recent delays as a majority of the project contains pouring concrete. Gibson said the water plant was originally to be completed in April but the project’s timeline has now been shifted to sometime in July or August.

“Things are moving pretty good right now,” Gibson said. “Last week we had a good week, a good warm week. They were able to pour a considerable amount of concrete and so you know that’s kind of got them moving again.”

Gibson said the contractor is still rebarring and pouring concrete. Gibson said there is still a lot of work to do once the concrete is finished.

“There are still a lot of pipes to be put in,” Gibson said. “There is still a lot of equipment that needs to be put in place but they gotta get the walls and get the concrete pad in before they can continue to do all of that.”

Gibson said the contractor is taking two days off as rainy weather is forecasted for the next couple of days. Gibson said despite the rocky start he feels good about the project and believes it is back on track.