Customers with the Chuckey Utility District who lost water when the Kinser Bridge washed away are one step closer to having their faucets flow again.
Chuckey Utility General Manager Tyson Lamb said that crews completed a 12″ line across the river and will make the final connections on Wednesday. Once completed, the line will be one of two major supply lines back to their 14,000+ customers, many of which are south of the Nolichuckey.
Customers north of the river had already had service restored, but the loss of the line attached to the side of Kinser Bridge was devastating to the utility. That line feeds the areas of Horse Creek, Middle Creek, 107 Cutoff, Greystone, and up to South Central. Final connections to the existing line on the south side of the river are expected to be completed tomorrow, but like with the restoration of water to the other areas of the county, refilling empty lines and pressurizing the system will be done slowly to avoid causing any damage to the system. Like elsewhere in the county, those areas that have water restored will be under a boil advisory for water used for drinking or brushing your teeth.
A second permanent line to help feed the utility continues to progress at Earnest Bridge. A new line will be installed six feet below the bottom of the river through a bore hole 13″ wide. Chuckey Utility has four 2″ lines laying across the closed Earnest Bridge to help supplement a connection from Jonesborough that has helped start getting water to their customers in the South Central and Clark’s Creek area, but not to any side roads.
