ST. CROIX — Disconnection of a major storm drain from the sewer system is necessary during the second phase of the Christiansted Sewer Replacement Project to prevent overflow from the manhole during heavy rains, according to the project manager.
The Virgin Islands Waste Management Authority started the federally funded project May 15, 2023 to replace 30,000 linear feet of concrete, clay, and ductile iron wastewater lines more than 50 years old with PVC sewer pipes during the first phase, which is nearing completion.
Funded at nearly $10 million by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the two-phase project is slated for completion May 15, 2025 following the rehabilitation of all the manholes that is expected to start in about two months.
Ron Phillips, WMA’s project manager for the sewer replacement in downtown Christiansted, said it is necessary to isolate the point where a storm drain ties into the sewer system at the intersection of Prince and East streets during the upcoming manhole rehabilitation phase.
“If we don’t do the isolation, it’s always gonna be a problem for us,” he said. “We have to do the isolation, otherwise that debris is still gonna be coming into the sewer system.”
Heavy rains bring dirt, gravel, and other debris into the storm drain that can clog the sewer line, causing sewage overflow from the manhole, Phillips said. He said stormwater runoff recently carried debris into the storm drain when Marco St. Croix, WMA’s contractor for the sewer replacement project, was installing new sewer lines in the area.
“What happened is that it created a restriction,” he said, noting the contractor used a vacuum truck to remove the debris. “That was a time when there was a lot of rain, so all of the sewer system was overcome because there were certain sections within the sewer system where the storm drainage got into, and that created the problem, so that kind of gave the misnomer that the sewer lines were improperly installed.”
Phillips said it will not take a lot of effort to isolate the storm drain from the sewer system.
“It’s something that’s part of the rehabilitation, and there’s no additional cost in doing it,” he said.
Before Marco St. Croix begins the manhole restoration phase of the project, the contractor will finish replacing the main sewer lines and lateral lines that connect to residential and commercial buildings. Work remains ongoing down King Street. The final stretch will be up Hospital Street.
Replacement of the old sewer lines with SDR-35 PVC that is designed to tolerate sewer gas means there won’t be anymore breaks in the pipes due to deterioration, according to Phillips. He said the new sewer lines will also prevent infiltration, which is when the sewer system can’t handle stormwater runoff and manholes bubble up.
“At the end of the day, we’ll have a new; we’ll have a very good sewer system,” he said. “And some of the issues that we’ve faced in the past with manholes overflowing and sewers backing up in residential and commercial buildings, that’s gonna be a thing of the past.”
The crew from Marco St. Croix worked today on what Phillips described as one of the hardest areas of the project near the Florence A. Williams Public Library because there are several underground utilities, and the road gets narrow.
“That is gonna be very tough for us,” Phillips said, noting it will take time to complete the excavation in that area to ensure no damage to utilities, including broadband, electrical, and water.
After digging trenches in the roads to replace sewer lines throughout town, the contractor has been filling and paving them. Phillips said the second phase of the project will include inspecting manholes to repair any cracks in the walls in addition to installing an epoxy to protect the concrete walls from sewer gas, as well as raising some identified manholes by 2 inches to the level of the asphalt.
The cost of the EPA-funded project has grown to nearly $10 million from $8 million in the past 10 and a half months as the contractor encountered different obstacles, Phillips said. For instance, he said the cost increased due to extensive concrete excavation and subsequent restoration in certain areas, including near storm drains and while replacing a section of sewer line that ran under a bridge on Smith Street.
As the project continues with Marco St. Croix making its way along the final stretch down King Street, Phillips offered a message to the community on behalf of the Waste Management Authority.
“We want to thank the residents of Christiansted, the businesses for being patient with us,” he said. “I know at one time it wasn’t looking pretty good with all of the trenches that we had and no asphalt; no paving was done. That is behind us.”
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