Halme Construction Inc., of Davenport, is the apparent low bidder, with a bid of $2.9 million, for a city of Spokane contract to complete the second and final phase of a project that will extend a water line that eventually could provide city water to Fairchild Air Force Base and an area nearby.

Dan Buller, a city lead engineer, says the current project encompasses the remainder of what originally had been planned to be done in three phases. He says combining the second and third phases will streamline the process, saving the city administrative costs. A contract was expected to be awarded to the low bidder this week, Buller says.

In the job, Halme will extend a 36-inch water main from nearly the end of a water main that was installed last year as far as Medical Lake Road and Craig Road to Fairchild's eastern boundary. The new section of pipe will be extended north from Medical Lake Road about midway between Craig and Hayford roads to Thorpe Road, then west along Thorpe to Craig Road, and north again along Craig to McFarlane Road. From there, the route will follow McFarlane Road approximately to Rambo Road, near Fairchild's perimeter.

The contractor won't, however, extend the line along Rambo to the base entrance, nor add any customer connections at this time, Buller says.

The new water line is designed to meet the needs of the West Plains area for the next 100 years, says Jim MacInnis, a senior engineer with the city. The city has another pipe extending into the West Plains, but wants to have a second line there in case a pipe breaks or a booster station breaks down, he says.

Fairchild obtains some of its water through its own pipeline from a well on the west bank of the Spokane River, and also receives some of its water from the city, but ultimately might decide to get all of its water from the city if replacing its own aging pipeline proves to be too costly, MacInnis says.

The project will add on to the first $2.6 million, three-mile phase of work that was done last year by Eller Corp., of Newman Lake, Buller says.

In that project, a water main was extended between a city water main at the intersection of Thomas Mallen Road and Geiger Boulevard and the intersection of Medical Lake and Craig roads. Buller says that installing the line for the current project midway between Craig and Hayford where there is no road, and then along the unpaved Thorpe Road, will save the city several hundred thousand dollars because the contractor won't have to repave roads. A 64-inch casing was installed under a recently-built railroad spur where it crosses McFarlane, through which the city's water line will be threaded, Buller says.

Buller says Halme hopes to complete the entire four-mile long project this season, but the 36-inch concrete-lined ductile iron pipe to be used must be manufactured specifically for the job.