A massive upgrade of sewer lines running through Fort Walton Beach and south Okaloosa County is expected to continue well into the fall.
The 5-mile project has disrupted traffic and torn up pavement on multiple roads in the city and unincorporated areas as crews have laid the new, larger pipes in the ground.
The city is spending $13 million on the project, which will result in a new sewage pump station on Robinwood Drive and a new force main that carries most of the city’s waste water.
“This project will set us up for the next 20 to 25 years,” City Manager Michael Beedie said. “It is a lot of money, but it is a well-needed project.”
Work is scheduled to be completed by the end of the year. Streets most affected by the construction — Cecelia Drive, Bishop Avenue, Hemlock Drive, Holmes Boulevard and Vaughan Street — will be repaved after the new lines have been tested.
The final section of the project is a $4 million pipe replacement being funded evenly by Fort Walton Beach and the county. Two aging 20-inch sewer pipes that carry waste water from the city and county are being replaced with a 36-inch pipe.
“We knew we would eventually have to replace those pipes,” said Jeff Littrell, Okaloosa’s water and sewer director. “It’s a win-win situation.”
County crews are laying the pipe from Bob Sikes Boulevard to Denton Boulevard and across the Fort Walton Beach Golf Club to the Arbennie Pritchett Water Reclamation Facility on Roberts Road north of Lewis Turner Boulevard.
“We figured it was better to do it jointly, once,” said Mark Wise, deputy director of the county’s Water and Sewer Department. “That way, we only tear up Denton once, not twice, and we only tear up the golf course once, not twice.”
The pipe installation is progressing south on Denton Boulevard and will take another four to six weeks to complete, Wise said.
Work from the north end of Denton Boulevard to the Arbennie Pritchett plant is completed and the pipe has been tested.
Littrell said Denton Boulevard will not be repaved until the new pipe has passed a pressure test.
“You don’t want to pave it and then test it, find out there’s a problem and then have to cut the new pavement,” he said.
City and county officials say residents have been patient and that work has gone smoothly despite a lot of rain this summer.
“This is a great example of two local government entities getting together and partnering and doing something that is beneficial to both sides,” Littrell said.
Contact Daily News Staff Writer Kari Barlow at 850-315-4438 or kbarlow@nwfdailynews.com. Follow her on Twitter @KariBnwfdn.