Leaky pipes delay construction on Fredericton's northside by 3 weeks

Leaky connections in a new water main on Fredericton's northside will cause further delays in construction and more traffic headaches for residents.

Construction on the Greenwood Drive water main replacement is now three weeks behind schedule, according to Greg McCann, a project manager with the city.

"It pushes our completion date to about the end of October, early November," he said.

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Any further delays could put that in jeopardy though. "You can't pave a road when it's really cold," said McCann. "The paving plants won't stay open much past mid-November."

McCann said the extent of the damage isn't known yet and wouldn't rule out the city having to rip everything up.

"Today and tomorrow will tell the story of which route we're taking on that," he said.

McCann wouldn't comment on what happens if work on the road isn't completed by mid-November, but said keeping the gravel surface throughout the winter isn't an option.

Manufacturer checking for defects

The problem was discovered when workers started testing the new system.

"It's during this pressure testing that the pipe is failing," said McCann.

"It's losing water so there's leaks somewhere in that newly installed water main."

McCann said an inspector with the company who manufactures the connections has taken one to test it to see where the blame lies for the leak.

"We're checking that out to see if that's [an] installation [issue] or manufacturer's defect," he said.

McCann said the city won't be financially responsible for the additional construction costs and whichever party caused the problem will be tasked with paying to fix it.

Traffic concerns

Construction on Greenwood Drive, in the Pepper Creek area of Fredericton's northside, has been ongoing throughout the summer and into the fall.

Traffic delays of up to one hour have been caused by the construction, with some businesses in the area feeling the pinch.

Greg Hallihan, who owns Hooley's Hometown Pub on Greenwood Drive, is among them.

"I'm down 50 per cent in sales, and right now I'm in the process of laying people off, cutting my menu down, and just trying to survive my first year," Hallihan said in an interview in August.

Not normal

McCann said this is the first time in his career with the city that he's seen something like this happen.

"There'd been talks that this happened a long time ago … It doesn't happen very often though," he said.