Work has begun to replace the 150 year-old system that supplies water to the Village of Franklin.
Beginning in late September, streets were trenched 3 feet wide and 5 feet deep. Green PVC pipe was laid above the existing water mains. Two 10 inch pipes were laid from the well house along Otsego Street. From there, an 8” pipe was laid down Center Street with 6” pipes branching off down side streets of Institute, Maple, Water, Wakeman, Second, Third, and West.
New hydrants were connected to the new pipelines, finally providing sufficient pressure and volume in case of a structure fire. An additional hydrant was added next to the firehouse to allow the trucks to fill their tank. Next, the trenches were backfilled. The old pipes were left in place, but the old hydrants will be removed.
Then the crew began connecting individual services, each of which will get a new shut-off valve. Once that work was completed in mid-November, the trenches were paved.
Work was done by a crew of eight from LRS Excavating, Inc. from Lansing and Vacri Construction Corp from Binghamton.
Lines down Main Street will not be installed until spring. They will require digging-up the sidewalks because the NYSDOT does not want Route 357 disturbed.