South Portland is planning to close portions of Willard Beach for about a month in order to replace a sewer force main.

The force main ruptured in June, forcing the temporary closure of the beach while crews made emergency repairs. The Water Resource Protection department will hold an informal meeting about the replacement work at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday at South Portland City Hall.

Construction is expected to begin Monday on the force main that runs along the beach between the pump station on Fisherman’s Lane and Myrtle Avenue. Portions of the beach between Willow Street and Myrtle Avenue will be closed, but areas of the beach that are unaffected will remain open to the public, the city said.

During the emergency repairs, the Water Resource Protection department and its contractor found extensive degradation of the pipe, which was confirmed during follow-up evaluations.

The City Council this month approved spending more than $561,000 from the pump station reserve fund for the project. The department is expected to transfer $290,000 back into the reserve from money it had planned to spend on sludge disposal that is no longer needed.

The project will disturb some sand dunes along the beach, including a portion that had been rebuilt with recycled Christmas trees last spring. After the force main is replaced, the city said it will reshape the sand dunes and plant beach grass.

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