A second major water line might be installed from the water treatment plant on Haining Road to serve roughly 10,000 customers in Vicksburg and could be funded in part by the U.S. Army Corps of Army Engineers.

“Right now, we are fed through one line from the water plant all the way to Jackson Street,” Public Works Director Bubba Rainer said. “This would provide us two feeds from the plant.”

A second feed would prevent future disruptions in water service to the city if the single main, about 2 1/2 miles from the well field and treatment tanks to its initial branching point, breaks. That happened in 2006 and was nearly experienced earlier this year, Rainer told the Vicksburg Board of Mayor and Aldermen. The officials Friday OK’d an application with the Corps to assist funding the $3,367,284 project.

The project would see a 30-inch main installed from the plant on Haining Road east to North Washington Street, where it would head south toward downtown before running east up the steep banks near the historic Fort Nogales site. It would then be routed south beneath Fort Hill Drive and eventually tie into existing lines downtown. In total, 14,000 feet of 30-inch pipe would be installed.

The city is applying for competitive funds via the Corps, which would provide 75 percent federal funding, bringing the city’s cost on the water main to $841,821. Rainer said the Corps aided the city in constructing about five water wells nearly a decade ago with the same funding source, known as Section 592 funds.

Because the project would include Vicksburg National Military Park property, Rainer said an easement from the National Park Service will be sought. If Corps funding is awarded and the easement is granted, the estimated 18-month project could kick off as early as next spring.

A land shift March 26 near the MV Mississippi at Jackson and Washington streets threw a 36-inch water main in jeopardy and nearly compromised water service to the entire city. The Corps funded a $1.36 million rerouting of the line around the shift site via Main, Walnut and Jackson streets.

A land shift was also blamed for a two-day water outage in September 2006 when the main pipe blew out near the treatment plant on Haining Road.

“If we’re awarded this and the project is completed, it will eliminate that concern” in the future, Rainer told the board.

Mayor Paul Winfield was absent from the meeting Friday, reportedly attending a family reunion in Atlanta, leaving North Ward Alderman Michael Mayfield and South Ward Alderman Sid Beauman to approve the application with the Corps for funding.

Though the city has roughly 10,000 water customers it serves, Rainer noted the existing main actually serves about 45,000 customers when outlying water districts are factored in.