Eureka sewer project nearly finished - Wayne-Wilson News Leader, Fremont, NC

2 August 2007 — The sewer upgrade project in Eureka is coming along quite nicely, said project manager Shane Ward this week. In fact, citizens can expect the work to be finished within about a month.

The project, which involves repairing damaged sewer lines and manholes, is intended to prevent infiltration into sewer lines leading out of town. Infiltration of rainwater into the system increased the amount of flow the town was sending into Fremont, which caused high sewer bills over the past year. After the completion of the project, town officials hope to see drastic decreases in their bills.

The decrease in infiltration in the Eureka lines will also benefit Fremont, who is undergoing sewer repairs for similar problems. Fremont receives sewage from Eureka and then pumps it onward to Goldsboro.

In Eureka, Mr. Ward said the project is about 90 percent complete, with an anticipation of finishing work by the end of August.

He said crews are basically finished with manhole rehabilitation and repair. They still have a fair bit of slip lining left, though. Slip lining involves putting a liner into the pipe to prevent leaks, and allows the engineers to use existing pipes rather than replacing them.

Approximately 100 service connections with the repaired manholes are also scheduled for replacement. Mr. Ward said that will be the most time consuming part of the project, because workers will have to dig deep into the ground to replace the connections.

The pump station on Baker street is through the construction phase of the project, and is in the final stages before it can be incorporated into the system. This week, workers are finishing the wiring in the station. After inspection, it should be ready for start up next week.

The repaired manholes also are yet to undergo smoke testing to ensure that the repairs are effective. However, Mr. Ward said that he fully expects the crews to be finished and out of Eureka within another month.

Fremont Town Manager Kerry McDuffie recently reported that the sewer construction work in Fremont is also going well. Most of the manholes scheduled for repair or replacement have been fixed, and several have been tested. All of the point repairs in the original scope have been completed, but five new needed repairs were recently discovered and added to the list.

Most of the holes left in town streets by construction have been patched, but a few still remain because of work remaining in the area.

The project is about halfway finished, and Mr. McDuffie said he still expects the project to finish in October, which was the original projected date of completion. The Fremont project, though it began before Eureka, will finish later because the town is larger and the project is much broader in scope.

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