Work to upgrade a key Ward 3 sanitation line is entering a second phase of work this week after contractors extended piping about 3,000 feet, said Starkville Utilities General Manager Terry Kemp.
The Banyan Road project was needed, Kemp said, after the important sanitary sewer connection showed signs of breaches and failures. The Ward 3 system, which utilizes forced transportation by pumps and a gravity-delivery system, is a significant tie-in to Starkville’s sewer system and wastewater treatment plant.
Work on the estimated $700,000 project began last year, but Kemp said additional issues emerged after workers dug into the soil and inspected the line.
The first phase of the project included replacing and extending a 20-inch pipe, but aldermen had to approve $70,000 last month for an emergency pump rebuild conducted in July. Some asphalting work remains to be completed, Kemp said, after workers bored under South Montgomery Street.
The asphalting, he said, could begin this week, and contractors are expected to soon mobilize on the project’s second phase of installing 8-inch slip lines in the area.
“There have been delays in some sense of the word, but the nature of the job itself and the complexity of it are really the factors at play. We knew what the solution was, but actually starting the project uncovers more issues you didn’t know you had to address,” he said. “Like everything else, we know and the contractors know we have some points of failure (in the areas with work remaining). Until we get in there, we won’t know the full picture. But we’re optimistic that this will hopefully be a fairly quick process. We want to get all of this completed before the weather changes.”
The ductile iron pipes of the Banyan Road area were installed in the 1980s, Kemp said. Deterioration from acid and the pipes’ age are the likely causes for their failures, he addded.
Replacing those pipes will be infrastructure made out of polyvinyl chloride (PVC), which Kemp said are expected to last at least 60 years.
Ward 3 Alderman David Little said Banyan Road residents “have been very patient with the process” of replacing and upgrading the sanitary sewer lines in their neighborhood.
“I understand that the roadway repairs should be completed by the end of October,” he said. “This should settle some of the dust and fill holes in that area that have been affecting those who live along Banyan Road. I believe there have been ongoing odors for several residents due to issues with the sewer line for several years. I am glad to see this project nearing completion and I know the Greenbriar residents will be also.”
Starkville uses cameras to evaluate its water and sewer infrastructure, and the process of prioritizing specific areas for replacement is data-driven, providing the most impact without forcing rate increases, Kemp said.
The city has budgeted about $400,000 for these projects in the current fiscal year, he said, but projects like the Banyan Road effort sometimes uses Appalachian Regional Commission grants and the Mississippi Development Authority’s Capital Improvements Revolving (CAP) Loan Program.
“You can’t fix (all of Starkville’s aging infrastructure) at once for a lot of reasons, so we take the position that we don’t just patch the worst parts; we resolve the issue,” Kemp said. “We’re trying really hard to improve our system and keep rates affordable at the same time.”
Carl Smith covers Starkville and Oktibbeha County for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter @StarkDispatch
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