From Monday’s City Commission Agenda: Salina Water Main Replacement Nears $2 Million Per Mile

The Salina City Commission will meet Monday, Aug. 24, at 4 p.m. in Room 107 of the City-County Building, 300 W. Ash Street. The meeting is open to the public and can also be watched live on the City of Salina’s YouTube channel.

The Salina City Commission will consider approving another major water main replacement project Monday as the cost of replacing the city’s aging water infrastructure continues to rise.

City staff is recommending awarding the 2026 Water Main Replacement project to Salina-based Diehl Enterprises Inc. for $2,059,778, along with a 5% construction contingency of $102,989. That would bring the maximum authorized project cost to $2,162,767.

The project includes approximately 1.08 miles of water main replacement, including 5,712 feet of 6-inch pipe, 36 feet of 12-inch pipe, 11 fire hydrants, valves and water service lines.

Based on the base construction bid, the project comes to approximately $1.91 million per mile.

City records included in Monday’s packet show how that figure has changed over time.

Salina’s first phase of water main replacements in 2010 and 2011 cost approximately $388,120 per mile. Phase II cost about $382,215 per mile.

The 2025 replacement project came in at approximately $1.47 million per mile, while the 2026 project is listed at approximately $1.91 million per mile.

Altogether, the city’s table identifies approximately $29.7 million in water main replacement projects covering 45.06 miles since 2010.

Four companies submitted bids for this year’s project. Diehl submitted the lowest bid at approximately $2.06 million. The remaining bids ranged from about $2.3 million to $3.76 million. The engineer’s estimate was $2.24 million.

Funding would come from the Water/Wastewater Capital Reserve Fund, which currently has a balance of approximately $9.2 million.