Brookhaven’s Drew Valley prepares for water main replacement

Construction on a water main replacement along Grant Drive and Thompson Road in Brookhaven kicks off Feb. 9, and homeowners in the surrounding Drew Valley neighborhood have questions for DeKalb County.

Before crews replace 6,600 linear feet of aging pipes between Dresden Drive and Drew Valley Road, about 20 nearby residents hopped on a Zoom call with county officials to hear what they can expect.

County officials say people living near affected streets can expect an increase in construction-related noise and traffic during work hours. While crews will begin mobilizing Feb. 2, construction is expected to start at Drew Valley and Thompson Road Feb. 9.

Water lines along Milowyn Place and Fearn Circle will also be dug up and replaced, impacting sections of Dresden and Alta Vista drives, Bates Court, and Drew Valley Road.

When it’s all over in the fall, affected homeowners in Drew Valley can expect improved water pressure and more reliable service.

Overview of project

The project is expected to last around seven or eight months and conclude in August, barring any weather delays. Normal construction hours are 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding major holidays. 

County officials said the projected construction timeline is not conservative, leaving open the possibility of delays with the unknowns surrounding underground utilities.

Cassandra Marshall, the county’s assistant director of capital improvement projects, said affected homeowners will get a knock on the door the morning before crews start work. There are already signs throughout the neighborhood with county contacts and public information.

“What comes with construction are inconveniences,” Marshall said. “We want to try to minimize those inconveniences. What you’re going to see is a lot of foot traffic, construction delivery, and parking throughout your neighborhood. As a security measure, though, we do require our contractors and our employees to have some type of county identification and badges so you know they are working with the county.”

Marshall said the county will need to coordinate with City of Brookhaven officials on roadway repaving toward the conclusion of the project.

“Based on the permit requirements from the city, [Brookhaven] is going to require us to pave a full lane, which we will do,” Marshall said. “I’m not sure if the city is going to do the other half … that is something we would have to follow up on.”

While there are no plans for daily outages, they are a possibility.

Marshall said there is one planned outage when crews swap over the new service line to the meter. Property owners who are getting lines installed in front of their homes will receive a new meter box and service line connected to the county’s updated system, she said.

Construction concerns

Ginger Gay, inspections supervisor for the DeKalb County Watershed Management Department, said her team will be on-site to ensure contractors are on schedule and to handle any issues.

“On a lot of these projects, the pipe is old … there may be multiple outages because of that reason,” Gay told neighbors. “Keep in mind, we’re excavating near the old pipe, which may disrupt it [and] cause it to break.”

Arre Kennedy, the county’s construction project manager, said once the new 8-inch service line is installed, the existing 6-inch water main will be abandoned in place.

“All disturbed pavement and landscaping will be replaced in kind or better,” Kennedy said. “Erosion control [and] best management practices will be installed throughout the entire water main alignment. No more than 1,000 linear feet of trench will be open at any given time and must be backfilled daily.”

The DeKalb County Watershed Management Department is operating under a modified federal consent decree, requiring upgrades to its sewer system, which are already underway. County residents are one year into a decade-long series of annual 10 percent rate increases for water and sewer service.

The Grant Drive water main replacement project is a part of DeKalb County’s $4.27 billion capital improvement program to improve the capacity and service of the watershed systems serving the community. 

For more information or to ask questions, call the DeKalb County Department of Watershed at 1-800-986-1108 or email projectinfo@dekalbcountyga.gov.

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