North Reading Public Works Infrastructure Projects

The Department of Public Works is starting two projects to evaluate the town’s drainage & pavement infrastructure. Residents will see contractors on all town roads over the next 6-8 weeks weather permitting. They will be using vehicles clearly marked with the company name and the contractor’s employees will be wearing reflective safety vests.

Drainage System Inspections.  New England Civil Engineers (NECE) will be locating and inspecting every drain system manhole (18-24 inch round things with solid covers in roadways) & every catch basin (18-24 inch square things with slots or holes that allow water to drain from the roadway) town wide to update the town’s drainage system mapping. This is part of the requirements of the town’s US EPA Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System (MS4) permit. The MS4 permit is authorized under the federal Clean Water Act and seeks to improve the quality of water discharging to the Ipswich River basin.  NECE will be locating the manholes and catch basins using Global Positioning System (GPS) tools and will open and inspect the condition of each. This data will be digitally recorded and will be incorporated into the digital drain map in the town’s Geographical Information System (GIS). The end product will be a drain map that accurately details the town’s drain system. NECE will be starting on the Middleton side of town and will be progressing to the west towards Wilmington.

Pavement Management System.  BETA Group will be compiling information on the town’s road such as the accepted roads, unaccepted roads, etc lengths & widths; evaluating the actual condition of the pavement surface for 86.5 miles of roadways; and digitally recording and transferring this information into a database that will allow the town to develop a prioritized roadway Capitol Improvement Plan (CIP). The condition of each roadway will be assigned a numerical rating from excellent to poor that will be used as the basis of planning & budgeting for future town road repairs. This information will also be incorporated into the town GIS mapping system. BETA will be starting on the Wilmington side of town and will be progressing to the east towards Middleton. 

Please contact the DPW at 978-357-5260 if you have questions.