Water Line Installed 47 Feet Under Shrewsbury River, Connects Rumson to Sea Bright

RUMSON, NJ - If you live in Rumson, you might have noticed construction lately on Rumson Road, down by the river. It's work being done by New Jersey American Water, which is replacing a water pipe 47 feet under the Shrewsbury River to connect Rumson's water supply to Sea Bright.

New Jersey American Water is the water utility that supplies the drinking water for dozens of Monmouth County towns, including Rumson, Sea Bright, Holmdel and Middletown. The new pipe is meant to improve water service to the barrier island town of Sea Bright, and digging under the Shrewsbury was a necessity, says Engineering Project Manager Leslie Steves. A map of where the pipe will run is above. The yellow line is the new main; the green line is the main American Water is retiring.

"We are trying to replace mains before they break, and the last thing anybody wants is for (Sea Bright) to be out of water this summer," said Steves.

There is currently an existing water pipe under the Shrewsbury connecting Rumson with Sea Bright, but it's time to be replaced, she said. That pipe is a mere 18 inches in diameter and was installed back in the 1950s, when when the area's water was supplied by Monmouth Consolidated.

"The pipe is 60-75 years old and at the end of its service life. Pipes of that age can break without much notice. It's been sitting at the bottom of the river, exposed to brackish water," Steves said. "It survived the surge in the Shrewsbury from Hurricane Sandy. But because of that hurricane, a lot of the soil down there got undermined. About 10-15 feet under the river it becomes clay."

For example, there was a water main break in Little Silver in June of 2016, which many customers might not have even noticed because American Water was able to keep the supply steady.

To do the work, American Water had to get permits from the New Jersey Dept. of Environmental Protection and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The DEP was concerned about the riverfront environment being harmed, and the Army Corps was concerned that boat traffic on the Shrewsbuy would be affected; neither of which is a concern, said Steves. The pipe was dug using horizontal drilling, which minimizes impact on the environment and community. Construction on the new pipe started March 25 and they just pulled the pipe through to the Sea Bright side last week.

Rumson Road was briefly closed for the work. The project should be completed by the end of this month.