DEERFIELD — The Highway Department hopes to have Mill Village Road reopened by the end of Friday, after town workers and a private contractor finish fixing a collapsed culvert. The northern end of the road has been closed.
Interim Town Administrator Douglas C. Finn said the work began about a week and a half ago just south of Old Main Street due to the collapse. The emergency repair of the 18-inch steel culvert is being done with Henry C. Kocot & Sons Inc.
The culvert “ channeled water from the east side of Mill Village Road to the west side. That pipe collapsed over the course of time and … caused a significant backup of water,” Finn said.
He said a 36-inch plastic culvert has been placed roughly 10 feet from the repaired one. He said the fixed culvert can handle a normal, steady flow of water and the plastic one, placed slightly higher, is available to deal with any water from heavy rainstorms or spring floods.
Finn said this project will cost $20,000 to $30,000 from the highway budget, though the town has applied for reimbursement from the Massachusetts Department of Transportation. The project has been reviewed by the Deerfield Conservation Commission and the state Department of Environmental Protection.
At Wednesday’s Select Board meeting, Finn said the 18-inch steel culvert was installed “ages ago.”
Finn said Public Works Superintendent Keith Scarborough hopes to have the road reopened Friday, but there is no guarantee that will happen. The road is reduced to one lane until the culvert is replaced.
“This is just a fix,” Finn said at the Select Board meeting. “We are going to need to do a proper replacement of the culvert. That will be a $150,000 project.”
Finn said he wants to apply for state funds to finance the replacement.
The steel culvert must be replaced with a concrete one, though that project will not be completed for one or two years.