Flooding caused when Hurricane Floyd swept through North Carolina failed to affect one water main, which remained in service even though the road washed out around it.
On Sept. 16, 1999, Hurricane Floyd hit land near Wilmington N.C., dumping more than 20 inches of rain. The Tar and Neuse rivers rose as high as 20 feet above flood stage. One week later, with still rising rivers, North Carolina received intense thunderstorms which delivered an additional 10 inches of rain. At this point a dam in Goldsboro, N.C., breached and caused additional damage down river. Part of this damage was a 70 foot by 12 foot washout of State Road 1323, 10 miles west of Kinston, N.C.
The road washed out, revealing three pipes. A PVC line and a 16 inch DI pipe washed away with the road. The 16 inch pipe was laid just two months earlier and was not restrained. The PVC line was abandoned three years ago. Suspended across the 70 foot crevasse is the surviving line, a 12 inch ductile iron mainline (which replaced the PVC line) serving the 11,000 residents of Fork Township Sanitary District.
The line remained operational, under pressure the entire time due in large part to the Romac GripRing? pipe restraints. The pipe held 100 psi before, during and after the road washed out, without interruption. Four wells approximately 27 miles away provide water to 5 elevated tanks through this single line at 115 psi.
Honolulu Awards AMR Contract
Sensus Technologies has been awarded a contract by the Board of Water Supply, city and county of Honolulu, to provide new meters and a radio based automatic meter reading system for its 150,000 customer services. Installation of Sensus SR II? water meters and RadioRead? system equipment will be done by Mega Construction of Honolulu in conjunction with support by Sensus AMR technicians.
The first new meter and AMR installations will begin in January 2000. The project includes the replacement and/or retrofitting of existing meters as well as installation of RadioRead Motor Transceiver Units (MXU). The entire project is expected to be completed within three years.
Town Selects Contractor for D/B/O Project
The town of Plymouth, Mass., has selected USFilter Operating Services to design, build and manage a new wastewater treatment plant on behalf of the community. The partnership will save Plymouth taxpayers approximately $15 million over the course of the 20-year contract.
The public-private partnership agreement, valued at $47 million, calls for USFilter Operating Services to design, build, operate and maintain a 3.0 mgd wastewater treatment plant for the town. Under the terms of the contract, Plymouth will own the wastewater plant and USFilter Operating Services will assume full risk and responsibility including equipment replacement, capital improvements and regulatory compliance. The new plant will be constructed five miles from the existing facility, and the existing facility will be replaced with a pumping station and pipe to and from the new plant.
"This is a new approach to providing water and wastewater treatment for Plymouth," said Eleanor Beth, town manager. "Our partnership with USFilter gives us more financial security because it will save the rate payers and the town approximately $15 million ? and it eliminates the risk associated with operating a wastewater facility and complying with environmental issues."
The wastewater will be aerated and chemically treated for odor control prior to discharge with USFilters Jet Tech Omniflow® sequencing batch reactors.
