Massive sections of reinforced-concrete culvert have been delivered to the Mile Hill Road site where construction is continuing on an urgent state Department of Transportation (DOT) project to replace a failed drainage pipe that carries Deep Brook diagonally south-to-north 32 feet below the busy roadway.

Workmen have been digging a tunnel, where the seven-foot-diameter culvert will be installed on a concrete slab to carry the brook beneath the two-lane state roadway.

Initially budgeted at $200,000, after determining the extent of the problem, the DOT budget for the project increased to up to $3 million. Work started in April and is expected to be completed by late this year.

While the project is underway, the travel width of a 500-foot-long section of the wide Mile Hill Road has been reduced to provide workmen with room to work.

The 130-foot-long, six-foot-diameter failed corrugated metal culvert that had carried Deep Brook beneath the road will be replaced by a 168-foot-long reinforced concrete culvert. The new culvert will be constructed of 21 segments. Each eight-foot-long culvert segment weighs 21,500 pounds.

Although short in length, Mile Hill Road is an important link in the roadways that interconnect Route 25, Route 34, and Interstate 84.

The new culvert will be installed in two stages, so that no detour will be needed during the repair project.