DPW Press Releases

As part of the Sagamore Avenue Sewer Extension Project, borings are needed to collect data about the soils and bedrock in the project area. The first phase of borings was completed in the spring of 2020; and this work will complete the boring data collection.

Taking another significant step in its effort to protect the City of Portsmouth’s surface water supply by conserving lands surrounding the Bellamy Reservoir, the City’s Department of Public Works Water Division has partnered with Southeast Land Trust (SELT) to purchase a conservation easement on approximately 107 acres owned by Mary Ellen Duffy, adjacent to the Reservoir.

CAPTION: Four students from the UNH Civil and Environmental Engineering Capstone Program are working with the City Department of Public Works to assess a new tool for the Stormwater Division to measure compliance with EPA permitting requirements. They are (left to right) Joe DeGregorio​. Brandon Belmonte, , Jessica Nekowitsch and Andrew Godfrey.

With winter weather now appearing in weather forecasts, the Portsmouth Department of Public Works is urging residents to sign up for parking ban alerts and make winter preparedness plans in advance.

The City of Portsmouth Public Works Department is hosting a public input meeting via Zoom to discuss potential traffic calming measures for Banfield Road. The meeting is Wednesday, November 18 at 6:30 pm. To participate by Zoom, advance registration is required. For the registration information, click here.

Work related to the repair of the sewer force main on the Pierce Island Road Bridge will resume on Tuesday, November 3, 2020 and continue until December 15, 2020. Scaffolding will be installed along the underside of the Peirce Island Road Bridge and new pipe will be installed in the road on Peirce Island. The work will limit travel, intermittently, to a single lane of alternating one-way travel on weekdays between 7:30 am and 3:30 pm.

The Portsmouth Department of Public Works is responsible for maintaining all of the City’s public works of art, ranging from Jerome Meadows’ fragile ceramic tiles embedded in the African Burying Ground Memorial to the massive steel sculpture by Terrence Parker commissioned for the Foundry Place Garage. One of the works that recently received special attention from DPW Facilities engineers is the Cabot Lyford sculpture, My Mother the Wind that has stood on Four Tree Island for the past 45 years.

As the Department of Public Works prepares to start field work, they will host a second Public Input Meeting on the Fleet Street Reconstruction Project, via Zoom, on November 10 at 6:30 pm. For Zoom registration instructions, click here.

The City of Portsmouth Department of Public Works has identified the need to replace a Peirce Island sewer force main pipe that carries wastewater from the Mechanic Street Wastewater Pumping Station to the Peirce Island Wastewater Treatment Facility. The first step in this process is to install a temporary sewer force main along the ground on Peirce Island, stretching from the entrance to the boat launch parking lot to the Wastewater Treatment Facility.