The City of Great Falls has contracted with United Materials of Great Falls, Inc. to replace water mains on 12th Street South.

Beginning July 13, portions of 12th Street South will be closed to traffic between 1st Avenue South and 4th Avenue South.

Water main replacement project to close traffic

United Materials will provide barricades and detour signs in the area for traffic routing. It is anticipated the work will take approximately four weeks to complete depending on weather conditions.

For more information, contact Rob Skawinski with United Materials at 406-453-7692 or Matt Proud, city civil engineer, at 406-771-1258.

City approves water main replacement project

City Commissioners unanimously approved a $1.99 million contract to United Materials of Great Falls during their March 1, 2022 meeting for the second phase of the southside water main replacement project.

The project is replacing about 5,550 lineal feet of 6-, 8- and 12-inch water mains in 1st Avenue South, 2nd Avenue South and 12th Street South.

City approves contract for tree removal to start water main, street reconstruction project

The project is replacing water mains in the area that have been failing with increasing frequency, according to the city public works department. Those failures have caused damage to property, roadways, disrupted traffic and water service to local residents and businesses.

The water main breaks have been primarily due to corrosive soils, age and the type of pipe material that was used. The water mains were installed in 1891, 1903 and 1919, according to the city public works department.

City prepping for new EPA rules on lead in public water systems

Paul Skubinna, former public works director, said during the 2022 meeting that any time they do a water main project, they take inventory of the types of pipes in the area and the connections.

He said that whenever they’re in the street working on a main, if they find anything that seems like lead or galvanized, they go ahead and replace it to the curb stop.

Water main replacement impacts traffic on southwest side

That would be considered a partial replacement under the new rules from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency that are set to take effect in October 2024 and would eventually need to be fully replaced, according to city officials.