Middlesex sewer work costs climb

Construction costs are expected to be much higher than anticipated for the proposed sewer system for central and lower Middlesex County.

That’s the word from Jeremiah Burford of Hampton Roads Sanitation District (HRSD), and County Administrator Matt Walker, delivered at the Jan. 5 work session of the Middlesex County Board of Supervisors. 

Construction costs have increased following a downturn caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, Burford said. “Bid prices are still elevated.” Before the pandemic 30-inch pipe could be laid in the ground for $300 to $500 a foot. Now the cost is $850 a foot, about $4.4 million per mile.

HRSD will pay for the forced main, which in October 2023 was estimated to cost $52 million — about $3 million a mile. The 17-mile forced main could cost HRSD $75 million if Burford’s most recent estimate is correct. “There’s going to be sticker shock,” he told the board.

HRSD will open bids for the forced main in March.

HRSD plans to run a 17-mile-long “forced main” line from Saluda to Deltaville and under the Piankatank River to connect to an existing sewer line on Route 198 in Mathews that flows to the Yorktown plant for treatment and discharge into the York River. This was originally estimated at $30 million about five years ago…