The Town Council Monday night approved Town Administrator Shawn Brown's emergency contract order for immediate repairs to a collapsed sewer line on Chestnut Hill Road.

Beginning this week, Brown said approximately 392 feet of one orangeburg sewer main will be replaced in the neighborhood where the structural failure took place. The damaged sewer main is located in a mixed use commercial and residential area off Aquidneck Avenue near the Newport County Chamber of Commerce and about 10 single-family homes on Chestnut Hill Road as well as Brookdale Road where, said Brown,  some additional work might be performed.

The aging orangeburg pipe, which Brown likened to a clay pot material, had grown "spongy" over the years and initially collapsed on the affected street about three weeks ago. Since then, some residents in the area have experienced some "minor problems" while the town's Department of Public Works has worked to pump the line down until the sewer main is permanently replaced, said Brown. The neighborhood is devoid of any manholes that would make for easy access to perform the repairs, he also noted.

CB Utility of Bristol won the reconstruction project bid approved by the Town Council Monday night. The project is estimated to cost about $133,000.

Additionally, there's some opportunity to correct some other problems with more orangeburg pipe in that area, said Brown, who noted that the town is under order by the Department of Environmental Management (DEM) to replace all orangeburg pipe there in that collapsed section, given its risk of failure and the town's continued state mandate to reduce contaminants from entering Easton's Bay through the town's storm drains.

Residents in the neighborhood where work will be conducted this week will receive advance notice of any temporary loss of service but town officials expect such disruptions to be minimal, if any, said Brown.

The complete Town Council meeting can be viewed here beginning Wednesday, Dec. 1.