Oxford Township took a step toward looping its water system on the west side of M-24.

Last week, the township board voted 5-0 to award a $312,448 contract to Superior Excavating for the Manitou Lane water main project.

The project involves connecting two existing water mains with 1,241 feet of 8-inch-diameter pipe. The new pipe will extend eastward from an existing 8-inch main located southwest of the Manitou Lake Apartments, past the Orion-Oxford Seventh-day Adventist Church, to an existing 16-inch main running along M-24.

Having a looped system, as opposed to one with mains that dead-end, enables water to flow in more than one direction, which means users can still have access to it in the event of line breaks or repairs.

Township engineer Jim Sharpe, president of the Oxford-based Sharpe Engineering, said a looped system also improves water quality. Because the water is constantly circulating, sediment and rust don’t build up as they tend to do in dead-end lines and the water itself doesn’t get stagnant, he explained.

Superior Excavating was the lowest of four bidders for the project. The others were Allied Construction ($325,394), Main Street Contracting ($326,953) and C&P Construction ($461,805).

According to a March 1 memo from Sharpe, Superior Excavating performed the $1.5 million Lakeville Rd. water main extension for the township in 2017 and installed infrastructure for local private developments such as the Hills of Oxford condominiums and Abbey Ridge Apartments.

“The Lakeville Rd. project was completed (within the) budget and the (private) projects . . . went smoothly,” Sharpe wrote. “Their qualifications and references indicate that they have the equipment, manpower and . . . experience to complete the (Manitou Lane) project as designed.”