Soil Borings Along Proposed Water Pipe Route

The Massachusetts Water Resources Authority is in the design phase for a proposed redundant pipeline called the Northern Intermediate High Pipeline.  This water pipeline project  will be located in the towns of Stoneham, Reading, Wakefield, and Woburn.  The proposed redundant pipeline is needed to provide uninterupted water supply to the service area in the event of a failure of our existing single supply pipe.

In the next few weeks, MWRA will be conducting 66 soil borings along the seven mile route as part of the preliminary pipeline design.  The borings and some monitoring wells are required to better determine subsurface conditions along the route.  

The company, Geologic Boring will be conducting the soil borings first in the City of Woburn (3 locations)  and Reading (17 locations). In Reading, 17 borings locations have been selected, along Main, Hopkins, Walnut South and West Streets.   The work invovles blocking off a small area of the roadway with a truck and boring rig.  The rig will drill down to a  depth of approximately 12 to 15 feet and remove the soil samples for further study.  The work at each location will take five to six hours.

Work will begin the week of October 15th and the hours of operation will be 7AM-4PM. Construction Zone Safety Plans, including police details will be provided for traffic and pedestrian safety. Once work in complete in Woburn & Reading, the riggs will move to Stoneham & Wakefield.

If you have any questions please do not hesitate to call or email.    

MWRA CONTACT: Tom Lindberg, (617) 660-7974, or Tom.Lindberg@mwra.state.ma.us