PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- The Providence Water Supply Board is ramping up a plan to replace 360 miles of aging water pipes in the state's urban core.
Although workers have been slowly replacing the corroded pipe -- some of it buried in the 1800s -- for years, the utility stepped up its efforts last year as other projects ended, Boyce Spinelli, Providence Water's general manager, said Thursday.
The $360-million plan calls for replacing unlined cast iron pipe with pipe with protective coating over the next 20 years.
The water utility hopes to pay for the new pipe with a proposed 24 percent rate hike.
The state Public Utilities Commission is considering the request.
The new rate would enable Providence Water to spend $12 to $15 million a year on the pipe replacement project, Spinelli said.
Correction: The City of Providence plans to replace 360 miles of water pipe. That amount was incorrect in an earlier version of this report.