2022 CDBG Award
The long-awaited sewer main project for 144th Place has finally received permitting from the IEPA and IDOT. Homer Township, Will County, and the Community Development Block Grant department have been notified.
Bid documentation is in review and will be available in the next 2 weeks. Bid packet information will be published and contact information for packets will be posted on the Homer Twp webpage and here when available.
We apologize for the delay in the updates, but we had some webpage issues that are now resolved.
The project was awarded to Benchmark construction who specializes in “pipe bursting” which will minimize the digging as the existing sewer main is ruptured as the new main is pulled through the it. The new main pipe is larger than the old to allow for more capacity.
15 July 2023 equipment was being delivered to the job site along with materials being delivered the following week. The District was notified that televising was going to start this week and that the construction would work from Smith Road to Archer Avenue and then down 144th Place. Excavation began a few days ahead of schedule and created some headaches with traffic until Smith Road was crossed. A brand new sewer main was installed from Archer to a new manhole on Smith.
24 July 2023 began the sewer replacement on Archer which went well with some difficult work around all the utilities in the area. The contractor did accidentally strike the signal pole in the work area that created many headaches for all. A strange benefit to this was that the IDOT contractor reset the intersection signals to actually work as designed and residents using Smith Road can now approach the light and the signals change as well as being able to get more than 2-3 cars through the light before it changes.
31 July 2023 work moved slower on 144th as there were incidents with missing locates that included a service line that resulted in a repair to the service and water main, some people without water for several hours and the unfortunate trench crossing 144th to replace the service line. City of Lockport staff assisted the contractor and informed us that since we did not damage the water main and pressure was maintained we did not need to issue a boil order. We lost a few days in cleaning up this area and were still able to prep for the next section of sewer main install on Monday morning August 6. Hoping for a much more productive week.
As always please respect our contractors. They are trying to create as little impact on everyone as possible for residents involved on 144th and moving equipment and materials to the job sites. Service connections are being restored as quickly as the new main is installed. Restoration to cover the excavation sites is only temporary with final restoration to the work areas and road repairs when the project winds down. Both our engineering representatives and the contractor are photo documenting the work areas to ensure restoration is accurate and correct.
21 October 2023 – After many delays we finally have some closure to the sewer replacement project. Thank you to everyone for their understanding and patience. Underground work was a challenge because of the depths we were working at and moved faster in the end. The paving was just completed for Archer Avenue, Smith Road and 144th Place. There were many lost work days as we had to wait for the coordination of the paving restoration with Homer Township Highway and the weather. Many thanks to our on site engineering for ensuring the road work would meet all the requirements of the township.
Final site work restoration is next up and pending the weather we anticipate about a week to complete. Realize that any underground work takes time for restoration to allow for settling before the final grading. The District also has a warranty period on the work so it will be monitored.