Motorists can expect detours around National and Drummond streets beginning as early as today due to work to replace a 24-inch storm drain, said Public Works Director James “Bubba” Rainer.  The work is expected to take about two weeks.

“National will probably be closed a block or two off Drummond, where the work will begin and then progress onto Drummond heading north,” Rainer said. National Street is two blocks north of Vicksburg High School.

Replacing the estimated 100-year-old clay pipe will cost the city about $44,000, with $24,000 being paid to Walker and Wells Contractors of Tallulah to complete the work.

“They said they can do it in about 10 working days,” said Rainer. “The materials will be delivered (today), and the actual work should begin by Tuesday.”

A plastic pipe will replace the aging clay infrastructure, which is buried as deep as 18 feet in some places and had a house built over it along Drummond Street years ago. Rainer said the new pipe will be installed 6 to 8 feet deep between the sidewalk and street on Drummond, and then tie into existing drainage pipe on Forrest.

Clay storm drainage pipes are commonly found in Vicksburg, said Rainer, and ruptures are frequent. The drain pipe being replaced on National and Drummond had a rupture about six months ago. Replacing some of the aging infrastructure is an ongoing process, he added.

“After all this rain we’ve had over the past week there will be something that shows up in the next couple weeks,” he said. “It’s just something that goes with the territory. Vicksburg has an older infrastructure, and we just have to do our best to maintain it.”

Rainer could not provide the exact dates or locations of street closures, as the unfolding work will largely determine necessary closures.

“We plan on closing National, and we may eventually close Drummond altogether, but everything is subject to change,” he said. “We’ll have to play it by ear as they start digging and removing dirt.”