A $17.8 million grant is expected to cover the majority of costs to replace nearly 100-year-old water lines in the Leopard Street and Up River Road areas on Corpus Christi’s Northside, according to city documents.
The large-scale project — with an estimated price tag of $25 million — had already been planned for work, an Oct. 20 news release states, with an entry in the capital budget describing the project as “a critical component to replacing aging water infrastructure which will decrease emergency repairs and improve system resiliency and reliability.”
Funding for the grant, awarded by the U.S. Department of War’s Office of Local Defense Community Cooperation, is based on a program “which supports community infrastructure projects critical
to military readiness,” according to the city’s email.
In a written statement included in the news release, Congressman Michael Cloud referred to the announcement as “great news for Corpus Christi.”
“This federal investment will help modernize and strengthen the city’s water infrastructure that is critical to supplying water for both NAS Corpus Christi and the Corpus Christi Army Depot,” he wrote. “This is a project that will benefit both our military mission and the people who call Corpus Christi home.”
Work is to include replacing “approximately 15,418 linear feet of 30-inch cast iron pipe water line along I-37 North Frontage Road and Leopard Street,” the budget states.
“The existing 30-inch water line will be replaced with new 24-inch PVC pipe,” according to the project description. “The project also includes the installation of approximately 2,376 linear feet of new 24-inch PVC water transmission main along McKinzie Road.”
The City Council preliminarily accepted the grant with a vote in its Oct. 20 meeting.
A second vote required to finalize the decision is shown on an early version of the agenda for the council’s meeting on Oct. 27.
Kirsten Crow covers city government and water news. Have a story idea? Contact her at kirsten.crow@caller.com.
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This article originally appeared on Corpus Christi Caller Times: U.S. Department of War offering nearly $18 million for new water lines
