Smith Mountain Lake waterline construction underway

Smith Mountain Lake waterline construction underway

February 23, 2003

2/23/2003

​​SMITH MOUNTAIN LAKE – An overwhelming outcry from Bedford County residents experiencing dry or troubled wells fell on compassionate ears last year.

The Bedford County Public Service Authority (BCPSA), which operates most public water and sewer services throughout the county, developed a plan in January 2002 to expand services to 12 key areas. These projects would offer optimum reach of services to the most troubled areas of the county.

In February 2002, the Bedford County Board of Supervisors approved the BCPSA’s Capital Improvement Project Request for funding of construction of proposed water and sewer services totaling over $16 million. Thus began the process of applying for a loan from Virginia Resources Authority (VRA), which was approved and became final in early June. A stipulation of the loan is that proposed projects must be completed within three years.

One of the largest projects to be approved was Smith Mountain Lake Phase One waterline, which will expand the water service area of the Highpoint Water Treatment Plant to Hales Ford Bridge on Moneta Road by route of Hickory Cove Lane and Hendricks Store Road. Approximately 36,500 linear feet of waterline is scheduled to be constructed by June 2003. Since breaking ground in early November 2002, EC Pace Company, Inc. of Roanoke has installed approximately 15,000 linear feet.

Part of this project is an additional one-million gallon water storage tank as well as several treatment plant upgrades at the Highpoint Water Treatment Plant. The tank and its appurtenances are being constructed by Landmark Structures of Fort Worth, Texas. Highpoint Water Treatment Plant upgrades will be installed by Montvale Construction, the same company that originally constructed the plant. Upgrades will allow a larger capacity of water drawn from Smith Mountain Lake to be treated and stored in the new tank.

The tank will be located on Radford Church road, and will be an elevated composite tank, reaching a height of approximately 140 feet, and will have the capacity to hold one million gallons of treated water. Completion of plant upgrades and tank erection is slated for early 2004.

The BCPSA has several other waterline projects under construction throughout the county, including New London Road, Evington Road, Bethel Church Road, Swisher Drive, Blackwater Road and Everett Road.
Neighborhood line extension projects, in which the property owners share in the cost of construction of the waterline, are underway on Mill Acres Drive, Keswick Drive, Shadwell Drive, Fox Hill Road, James River Place, Fox Meadows Road and Irish Court.

In March, the BCPSA anticipates beginning waterline projects on Dogwood Hills Road, Matthew Talbot Road, Bellevue Road, and Great Oak Road; and plans to begin construction on a neighborhood line extension on Spring Mountain Road that will travel cross-country to Banbury Lane off of Walnut Hollow Road.

Click here to download the press release.