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Laredo reports 40,000 feet of pipe replaced; second-phase RFP aims to reach 80,000 feet
Summary
City staff told the Utility Advisory Committee that contractor Murphy has replaced about 40,000 feet of water/sewer lines and that an RFP for a second phase could push total replacements to roughly 80,000 feet by the end of 2026; staff acknowledged visible road cuts and pledged repairs.
City utility staff reported progress on a multi-year pipe-replacement program and outlined plans for a second procurement aimed at expanding the work.
"We are around 40,000 feet of lines that have been replaced," said Dr. T, a city utilities staff member, describing the work carried out by contractor Murphy. Staff said the underground installation is essentially complete but about 7,000 feet of surface connections remain to be tied in.
The contractor approach—working across different neighborhoods and postponing final paving until larger batches of work are ready—has left temporary cuts and core-and-batch pavement that residents have reported as damaged. "We're already having engineers on-site just to make sure they do it the right way," Dr. T said, adding that the city has called the contractor to ensure repairs are completed after surface connections are finished.
Staff said the department issued a second-phase RFP to replace an additional 30,000–40,000 feet of lines, with the procurement expected to close by February. If awarded and executed as planned, staff projected the city could approach roughly 80,000 feet of replaced pipe by the end of 2026.
Committee members asked for clearer public communication when road work will leave visible cuts. Staff said the city will work with contractors to accelerate final paving through two local contracts for asset-management and by using hot-mix paving rather than core-and-batch methods.
Because a quorum was not present, the meeting was informational and contained no formal approvals or votes on the program. The city said it will provide the project list and further details in the meeting minutes and bring updates to the advisory committee at its next meeting.
