Warren sewer line problem discovered

Department’s use of cameras helped find void under road

WARREN -- Officials in Warren had to act on emergency measures regarding the city's water pollution control during council's recess in August. Council did not meet to vote on legislation during that period.

Edward Haller, the director of water pollution control for the city, said his department has been using video cameras to search sections of sewer in Warren for issues.

Haller said that his department's cameras detected a potential problem in a sewer line under North Park Avenue near the Circle K convenience store.

"We have identified a segment of sewer that has a void under the road," Haller said. "We would like to repair that."

Haller said the sewer void increases the possibility of the road collapsing.

The specific section of sewer line was installed in the 1880s. Despite its age, Haller said his department does not want to replace the section in its entirety.

"We found documents from the 1920s that reference this as 'the old sewer,' " Haller said.

"It was 40 years old at that time. But, other than this one section that is missing, its in pristine condition. It doesn't warrant replacing the entire thing. We've got many sewers throughout the city half of its age that are in deplorable condition in comparison."

Haller said with the damage, the section of sewer has eroded a void of "considerable size." He said that while the void is not actively growing, the city must take action to repair the section.

Haller said instead of replacing the entire section of sewer, the city could save money by opting to have a pipe lining installed.

"If we were to line it, it would cost a fifth of the amount than to replace the segment of sewer," Haller said. "We're talking about $200,000 versus about a million dollars."

Haller said for about $200,000, the city can have the section of pipe filled with lining by Missouri-based Insituform Technologies.

"Insituform puts in a liner,. It's actually a felt tube that is impregnated with resin," Haller said. "It's currently being manufactured with authorization from the board of control. They are moving forward with this manufacturer to custom fit it. It is an egg-shaped sewer, it is very unique."

Haller said the lining still is being developed and should be ready for installation in the coming weeks.

At a recent council caucus meeting, Councilwoman Helen Rucker, D-at Large, asked Haller how the $200,000 lining would impact the water pollution control department's budget.

Haller said his department has been prepared for this very problem.

"We set aside some funds for this very kind of thing," Haller said. "You may recall last year, on the southeast side, we had two different road collapses, and so we have money set aside in our budget for unexpected expenses of this nature."

Haller said about 350 feet of pipe will be lined during the project. He said for about two days, the section of North Park Avenue will allow only one lane of traffic.

He said after the lining is installed, crews will steam the lining to cure it in place.

"Once it's cured in place, the liner itself becomes the pipe," Haller said. "So if anything happens to the brick around it, it will be secured by that actual pipe inside the pipe."

Haller said once the lining is secured in place, the city will be able to address any other issues to prevent the road from collapsing in that section.

If concerns surrounding the ancient sewer were not complicated enough, the issues, deemed an emergency, occurred while council was on its summer recess.

Eddie Colbert, the city's director of public safety and service, said he followed reasonable guidelines when bringing the issue before certain members of council.

"I will say for the record that I've done what I've done every time," Colbert said. "I called the council president (John Brown) immediately and I called the chairman of the committee (Gary Steinbeck) immediately to tell them what the situation was, and that I felt that I was going to declare it an emergency, and they all acquiesced to that thought process."

The emergency measure was approved by an 8-0 vote by council.