It sounds like a job for a major construction contractor:
installing 8,900 feet of water line, from the customer’s facility
near Cyclone to the closest branch of the Bradford City Water
Authority’s system.

In this case the eager customer does not need a contractor. The
Pennsylvania Department of Transportation’s McKean County
Maintenance Organization has upwards of 60 construction workers at
its disposal, along with lots of trucks, backhoes, front-end
loaders, dozers and other heavy equipment.

PennDOT knows how to do the paperwork, get the necessary
permits, and deploy the resources for a project of this size,
without “outsourcing.” So when the McKean County DOT headquarters
needed to become a Bradford City Water Authority customer, it was a
do-it-yourself project from start to finish.

Make that “do-it-yourselves,” for the Water Authority handled
design and worked collaboratively with PennDOT throughout the
process. Greg Sayers, maintenance manager for Elk and McKean
counties, says putting in the new water line “has been a joint
venture between Bradford Water Authority and the Mount Alton
facility, which houses the administrative building and materials
stockpiles.” (There are four other stockpile locations in the
county.)

The Water Authority designed the new line. The pipe (the high
capacity, 12-inch type), fixtures and eight fire hydrants are being
supplied by PennDOT at the state level.

There is a well at the Bingham Road PennDOT campus, but the
water quality is deemed unacceptable except for washing equipment
and flushing toilets.

The construction crew putting in the water line consists of 11
persons, one or two from each of PennDOT’s crews that do road
maintenance. “We didn’t short any crews,” Sayers says, adding that
scheduled projects are adequately staffed and proceeding on
schedule.

With no likely source of clean, potable water underground at its
maintenance headquarters, the unit looked to the Bradford City
Water Authority’s lines at the entry of the Bradford Regional
Airport complex. The Authority was willing to accommodate not only
PennDOT as a new customer, but also any of the other water users
past whom, or which, the line will run, Sayers said.

Part of the collaboration between local PennDOT and the Water
Authority involves a project design calling for a hookup access
fitting at the point where any of the potential customers along the
way would attach a line.

Not that anyone will be required to hook on, Sayers hastens to
add. “This is not like those projects we have all seen, where there
is a line put in and everyone has to hook on. If they want to tap
in, they can. If they have their own water and are satisfied with
that, that’s okay.”

Sayers pointed out that PennDOT had to follow all the
regulations any municipality or private entity would have to, in
terms of environmental impact studies, permits and other
requirements.

The project has been in the works for about two years. Actual
construction will be the least time-consuming phase. Completion is
targeted for June 1.

Sayers sees the new line as a win-win-win project, with PennDOT
getting the water it needs, the Water Authority getting a major new
customer, and residences and businesses along the way having the
opportunity to connect if they wish.

The eight fire hydrants are a bonus, too, Sayers notes. With or
without hooking on, owners and tenants along the route should
qualify for better fire insurance rates and will receive the fire
protection benefits that come with having hydrants close at
hand.

Meanwhile, maintenance projects continue apace, Sayers says,
mentioning a bridge on Route 346 in Duke Center, and another on
Route 46 on the Bradford side of Rew Hill.

PennDOT’s McKean County Maintenance District includes 382 miles
of roadway and 242 bridges.