Work is expected to be completed this week to stabilize the stream bank underneath a wastewater tank serving two homes on West Hill Road in Warren.
After the July flooding, there was a washout of material on Bradley Brook, across the road from 91 West Hill Road and adjacent to the Bradley Brook bridge abutment. The septic tank is located in a section of bank that washed out. The tank is on the verge of having the corner wall and floor exposed and potentially having the floor underneath the tank getting washed out, explained Warren town administrator Rebecca Campbell.
Warren has a municipal wastewater system that was constructed in 2000, after the flood of 1998. The system serves the village and extends up West Hill Road and up several other roads in and around the village.
She said that the December 19 flood made the erosion even more severe. The Warren Select Board held a special meeting on December 30 to discuss and accept an $11,000 proposal from Kingsbury Construction to secure and stabilize the tank and the bank. At that meeting, the board discussed timing with board member Bob Ackland reporting that Kingsbury was ready to do the work this week.
Ackland further explained the permitting research he did, talking to the Agency of Natural Resources and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
“I think we’re okay with permitting,” he said.
Board chair Luke Youmell said he felt the work needed to be done as soon as possible at the urging of Simon Services which maintains the town’s municipal wastewater system.
Board member Andy Cunningham asked if the work would include trying to anchor the tank and Ackland said that the estimate includes bigger rocks, but not pinning the tank.
“We don’t think the tank is going to move but it will be prudent to go in and change and realign the rocks, then reinforce the riprap on that bank to make sure it is stabilized,” Ackland said by phone this week.
“There’s probably going to have to be a longer-term fix if this type of flooding becomes more regular. Four years ago, that bridge was rebuilt and we extended the wing wall to go to the base of the septic tank, rather than the top. In hindsight, maybe that wasn’t the best place to put that tank when the municipal wastewater system went in after the flood of 1998,” he added.
