St. Albans water tower project causes short-term road closures after crews find buried logs; mayor says work should finish late 2025

Mayor Scott James said construction of a new St. Albans water tower is progressing but crews discovered old logs and fill under the access road, creating a temporary closure and a need for culvert repair.

"The city water tower, the new one that they're building, is making forward progress," James said. He described an unexpected condition: "When they were digging to put the water line in, and there were logs under the road. They went all the way across the road." He said crews delayed tearing up the road until they could install a new culvert and remove the buried debris to avoid undermining adjacent concrete.

James described traffic impacts and accommodations during work: daytime closures reroute access to City Park via Highland Drive and access near the pool; "after work hours, they'll have to be one lane open," he said. He noted the closure affected "6 houses above that" portion of the road and thanked residents for patience.

On the tower itself, James said it is roughly a million-gallon structure and described staged construction: crews built and raised successive sections. He gave a project timeline, saying he hopes the project will be finished in November or December and that work on the older Highland Drive tank would follow in spring.

The podcast discussion did not present construction contracts, formal change orders or exact completion dates from the contractor; those official records and the city public works updates should be consulted for formal schedules, traffic-control plans and final costs.