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City of Dowagiac - Water Main Replacement for Maple; Walnut; and Alley

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Important Information

The project includes replacing the existing 2-inch and 4-inch water mains in Maple Street and Walnut Street, south of Chestnut Street, with an 8-inch ductile iron water main. Additionally, new water main will be installed in an alley between Tuthill Street and Walnut Street to loop the existing dead end water mains. This is being done to increase system reliability and improve fire flows.

The contractor B&L Excavation Corp, who is located in Wayland, MI, is planning to begin tree removal the week of October 13, 2025. The tree clearing is expected to take two weeks to complete.

Water main construction will not begin until spring of 2026. B&L Excavation Corp. is targeting April 2026 for the start of construction and plans to wrap up construction by July 2026.

Access/Traffic:

One lane of traffic will remain open during construction. If work requires blocking access to a driveway, B&L will restore driveway access by the end of the work day.

Mail delivery and garbage pickup will not be affected by the project.

Water Service: A brief disruption of service will occur when connecting new pipes to the existing system. B&L will communicate with the City and residents to be prepared.

Contact

P&N Engineer
Jeremy Kamp, Project Engineer
Ernie Sarkipato, Project Manager
616-364-8491

P&N Construction Observer
TBD

Contractor
B&L Excavating
Josh Lain
616-293-9713

City of Dowagiac:
Matt Newton
Director of Public Services
269-782-2195

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June 5, 2026

Progress Report:

The final hydrants that were needed arrived on site this week and B&L installed them. The new water main was filled with water and passed hydrostatic pressure testing which ensures there are no leaks in the new pipeline. B&L also worked on new storm sewer construction on Maple and Walnut.

Upcoming Work:

Next week B&L will begin the process of disinfecting the new water main and will wrap up the storm sewer construction. Once the new water main has been successfully disinfected then B&L will coordinate full water service replacements with homeowners.

May 29, 2026

Progress Report:

B&L Excavating is close to wrapping up the new water main installation on Maple Street this week.

Upcoming Work:

New water main installation at Maple and Chestnut will be completed. Pressure testing and disinfection of all of the new water main will begin next week. Once the new water main has passed the performance testing then water service replacement work will begin.

B&L will complete some storm sewer construction next week while the water main testing is being completed.

May 15, 2026

Progress Report:

Water main construction was completed along Walnut up to the Chestnut intersection this week. B&L started water main construction on the south end of Maple on Thursday.

Upcoming Work:

Next week B&L plans to finish the water main construction on Maple up to the Chestnut intersection. The next step will be to fill the new water main for testing.

Extra Notes:

In the coming weeks, B&L will begin contacting residents to coordinate lead service line replacements. If your house has an existing lead service line your water service will be replaced from the water main to the water meter in your house. Some water meters are in a meter pit out by the sidewalk. The water meter will be relocated inside the house as part of this project. B&L will be working with Tubergen Underground to complete the lead service line replacements and will need to gain access to the inside of your house to complete the work.
May 8, 2026

Progress Report:

B&L made good progress again this week installing new 8-inch ductile iron water main along Walnut Street. Progress was a slowed a little bit due to all of the existing utilities in the road right-of-way that the new water main has to cross.

Upcoming Work:

B&L will complete the new water main installation up to Chestnut Street on Walnut Street next week. Once complete they will move to the south end of Maple and begin installing the new water main from south to north.

May 4, 2026

B&L has made good progress installing water main in the alley between Tuthill and Walnut over the last week. B&L will finish up with new water main installation in the alley this week and begin installing water main in Walnut up to Chestnut. After Walnut is completed, B&L will move back over to Maple towards the end of next week.

April 24, 2026

Construction is underway! This week B&L Excavating worked on sidewalk and driveway removals. A milling contractor was on site for road removals on Tuesday. B&L also dug up the existing water main at the south side of Tuthill in preparation for water main construction next week.

Next week B&L will begin installing water main in the alley starting at Tuthill and working towards the east.

November 7, 2025

The planned work on site (tree clearing) for this year has been completed. B&L Excavation intends to start this project as soon as weather allows next spring. Water main construction is tentatively scheduled to begin in early April, but is weather dependent. We will provide an update around the end of March once a more definitive schedule has been provided.

October 17, 2025

Tree Clearing Update:  Tree clearing started this week along Maple Street and Walnut Street. B&L Excavation’s tree clearing subcontractor, CHOP, has made very good progress this week along both Maple Street and Walnut Street. The tree clearing in the alley between Tuthill Street and Maple Street will begin next week. CHOP is expected to be complete with tree clearing by the end of next week. This will conclude the work on site this year until next spring when water main construction begins.