The City of Lenoir has a major sewer project and water project scheduled to start next week. Contractors can start work on the Finley Avenue Area Water Improvement Project and the Ridge Street Sewer Project on Monday, Oct. 27, 2025.
Finley Avenue Area Water Improvement Project
The Finley Avenue Area Water Improvement Project will improve water pressure in the Finley Avenue area of Lenoir.
The project includes building a new elevated water tank and installing new water lines. The new water tank will be located beside the current tank at 345 Finley Ave. NW. The new tank will be about 115 feet tall. For comparison, the current water tank on the property is about 60 feet tall. Contractors will also install about 9,000 feet of new water line.
The project area includes neighborhoods along Finley Avenue on the northeast side of Main Street and parts of the West End neighborhood on the southwest side of Main Street. Once completed, the improvements should increase the overall water pressure in the project area.
City Council approved the project on July 15, 2025. The adopted project budget is $9.4 million. Council awarded the contract to T.P. Howard’s Plumbing Company, Inc., which is installing the water lines, and Caldwell Tanks, Inc., which is installing the new water tower.
The contractors can start as early as Oct. 27, 2025, and they should finish the project by May 20, 2027.
Ridge Street Sewer Project
In the fall of 2021, City staff discovered a sinkhole beside Fire Station 1 in Downtown Lenoir. Staff and engineers have monitored the sinkhole, and the hole doesn’t appear to be affecting the Fire Station.
To repair the sinkhole, the City is going to reroute the storm drain line and sewer line that runs under the Fire Station property. The current sewer and storm drain lines are about 30 feet deep.
The first step in the sinkhole repair is to reroute about 900 feet of sewer line along Ridge Street and West Avenue. The new sewer line will be much shallower and easier to access.
City Council approved the sewer line project on Aug. 5, 2026. Council awarded the Ridge Street sewer replacement project to Iron Mountain Construction. The project cost is $989,200.
Iron Mountain Construction can start work as early as Monday, Oct. 27. One lane of Ridge Street and West Avenue will be closed during the project. Drivers should use caution and pay attention in the area.
Contractors are working with the Fire Department to ensure that City fire trucks can get into and out of Fire Station 1 without problems.
The contractors plan to finish the project by late January.
Once the sewer line is rerouted, the City will work to reroute the storm drain line and then fill the sinkhole by Fire Station 1.
