If the Interstate 30 corridor through downtown Little Rock and North Little Rock is rebuilt as the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department has proposed, utility and communication companies will have to relocate their power lines, pipes and cable.
That is especially true for Central Arkansas Water, which already has budgeted an estimated $10 million in pipeline relocation and other work that could be involved in the 6.7-mile corridor between Interstate 530 in Little Rock and Interstate 40 in North Little Rock. It also includes a small section of I-40 between John F. Kennedy Boulevard and U.S. 67/167 in North Little Rock.
The amount includes about $4.1 million the utility has estimated it will cost to replace the 24-inch diameter main that is attached to the I-30 bridge across the Arkansas River. It is a steel pipe that was installed in 1960.
"It is in excellent shape, and well within its useful life, so there is no immediate need for replacement," said Douglas Shackelford, a spokesman for Central Arkansas Water. "It currently averages about 8 million gallons per day through the main."
By contrast, Shackelford said replacing a main on the Broadway Bridge will cost $1.3 million. The utility is replacing the 16-inch main with a 20-inch main. It has no plans to replace the main on the I-30 bridge with a larger one.
The expense associated with relocation is a risk all utilities take when using Highway Department right of way. In exchange for that risk, the utilities don't have to pay to use the right of way, as they likely would if the infrastructure was on private property. The agency sets aside rights of way on many of its highway construction projects for future widenings, when it is feasible to do so.
"It's important to remember each [utility] was allowed to locate in the State Highway Right of Way for free," Danny Straessle, a department spokesman, said in an email. "The understanding is that in the event of a construction project that requires the relocation of these utilities, the owners must pay to have them relocated.
"This is not a special arrangement for I-30. It's the case for all of our Right of Way throughout the state."
There are eight companies, including Central Arkansas Water, with infrastructure on the I-30 bridge. The rest are communication companies such as AT&T Arkansas, Time Warner Cable, Windstream and Comcast, which have multiconduit ducts or fiber optic cable.
The timing of the work to remove or relocate the utilities remains uncertain at this stage of the project, known as 30 Crossing. Assuming the Federal Highway Administration approves the project, construction is scheduled to begin in 2018 and take about four years.
But Shackelford said Central Arkansas Water is well aware of the project and has been doing preliminary work to be ready. It has used a Highway Department 3-D animation to help identify some connections that may have to be relocated.
The utility anticipates the work and associated costs to be spread over the four years the project will be under construction, Shackelford said.
Planning also could help forestall any disruption of the main on the I-30 bridge, he said.
For instance, utility engineers could work with 30 Crossing engineers to allow the main to remain operational while one half of the new bridge is built. The new main could be installed on the first half of the new bridge and service could be routed from the old main to the new main with little or no disruption in service.
That isn't the case with the main on the Broadway Bridge. It was taken out of service in July. It isn't expected to be returned to service until the second half of next year, according to Shackelford.
"This is mainly due to the time constraints the bridge contractor has to finish the roadway per the contract with [the Highway Department]," he said in an email. "Our main is not part of those time constraints. It would be expected for them to finish the roadway first to meet their contract requirements with [the Highway Department], and then finish the water main."
Central Arkansas Water has six other mains crossing the Arkansas River to deliver treated water to customers north of the river, including North Little Rock and Sherwood. It also sells some water to Jacksonville. The utility has two treatment plants south of the river but none on the north side, he said.
"The largest lines we have crossing the river are on the I-430 bridge[s]," he said. "We have three 30-inch mains and one 24-inch main on those bridges (there are actually two separate bridges there, and we have two lines on each)."
The utility also has a 24-inch main on the Interstate 440 bridge and a 16-inch main on the Main Street bridge, Shackelford said.
Demand will increase just as work is scheduled to begin on the 30 Crossing project, with Central Arkansas Water adding 10,000 customers from Maumelle in 2018, he said.
"We can get away with" the I-30 bridge main being out of service "for a little while," Shackelford said. "The pipe has to exist."
Metro on 10/20/2016