By Moses Leos III

An expenditure of approximately $110,000 will be the second major step Kyle takes toward replacing aging and failing water and wastewater mains. 

But Kyle City Engineer Leon Barba said upgrading overall infrastructure in downtown, primarily Old Town, continues to be priority.  

“(Pipeline) doesn’t last forever. Eventually you’ve got to replace or upgrade,” Barba said. “That’s the way it is. Cars don’t last forever; pipelines don’t last forever either. We wish they did, but they don’t.” 

The expense, approved by a 7-0 Kyle City Council vote on Feb. 3, goes toward designing infrastructure improvements under North Burleson Road. 

It’s the third round of project engineering services Kyle has contracted Freese and Nichols to perform. Two prior contracts were awarded to Freese and Nichols in 2014. 

According to Barba, infrastructure improvements under North Burleson are tied to the city’s reconstruction of the road. Barba said designing the improvements would be part of the letting process for the $8.4 million reconstruction. 

Originally, improving utilities wasn’t part of the original scope of the road reconstruction. That stance changed as the deteriorating state of the pipes, along with the stress that could occur during construction, could have led to issues. 

“We knew we had to do it now, while we have the opportunity,” Barba said. “We are going to have a road there for the next 30 to 40 years easily. Let’s do it while we’ve got it (the road) torn up.” 

Upgrades will see the city’s water and wastewater mains increase to 12 inches. According to Barba, the increase will help accommodate demand. 

However, bigger pipes will also mean an increase in construction cost as well. Current estimates have the city spending roughly $1 million on infrastructure improvements. That will come from the city’s 2016 utility fund. 

However, discussions about upgrading mains began in 2011 after a report described Kyle’s infrastructure as “poor” and “bad.” 

Those descriptors came because of a hodge-podge of pipelines that compose Kyle’s infrastructure. 

According to Barba, some of the downtown mains are made of brittle clay pipe that’s 30 to 50 years old. He said some areas have wastewater mains that are plastic.  

Other areas hold mains made of asbestos-cement. 

“That’s something that was used at one time and it’s not used anymore,” Barba said. “It’s asbestos cement. It’s hard to tap into those. It’s just a brittle material.” 

Kyle took its first steps toward improving infrastructure in 2014. Kyle Council approved $460,000 worth of water and wastewater repairs in the Old Town district. 

Some of the problems lie in storm water infiltrating wastewater mains. That causes issues at the city’s wastewater treatment plant. 

Mayor Todd Webster said addressing those problems could keep the city’s wastewater treatment plant from expanding “sooner than it normally would.” 

“Anything we do to address improvements in wastewater line is going to have a positive impact on how much flow is going into the sewer plant,” Webster said.

But Webster maintained infrastructure fixes under Burleson Road are also being planned for other road bond projects. However, he believes the state of utilities underneath Burleson could be “more severe,” which warrants the upgrade.  

“It’s clear we haven’t kept up with that stuff over the years,” Webster said. “The Burleson improvement — it’s an excellent opportunity to make the fixes we need to make for the long term.”