County to Install 16-inch Water Main on Riedel

Anne Arundel County will begin work next year on installing a new 16-inch water main along Riedel Road in Crofton, in order to improve the efficiency of water distribution to the area.

The 16-inch main will be placed along Riedel Road from Hamden Road (just north of Nantucket Drive) to Route 3, making service more efficient and reliable, county engineers said. 

The new main will run parallel to an existing 36-inch main that already runs along Riedel Road. However, the new main would distribute water to the community, while the 36-inch main would flow water north. 

Project manager Mike Stroud said the new main was needed in part because the existing 36-inch main was configured in a "non-standard" way that did not allow water to flow efficiently to higher elevations.

The county has authorized $1.4 million to be spent on the project, and will solicit bids later this year. Construction would be scheduled to begin by the middle of next year. 

While construction is ongoing, there could be some lane closures or shifting along Riedel, though officials said they'd ensure traffic would flow freely during rush hour. 

Engineers also said there would be temporary water outages in homes along Riedel. Stroud said outages of roughly eight hours were possible, but that residents would received advance warning. 

Correction: A previous version of this article gave an incorrect name for project manager Mike Stroud. Also, this article has been updated to clarify that the water main will be used to distribute water more efficiently and reliably.