DPW Outline Sewage Pipe Replacement Project

Public works officials highlighted their plan  to facilitate the waste in Framingham to  literally flow downwards (courtesy of gravity) at a public hearing last week, where they explained for concerned residents the town’s plan to replace 50-100 metal sewer pipes with corrosion and odor resistant plastic pipes.

The project addresses  the poor existing system capacity while its finished product is expected to meet future waste water needs in Framingham according to the Eastern Framingham Sewer Improvement Project headed by engineers from the Department of Public Works. The projected is scheduledto begin in mid-April.

At the same time the DPW sought to address residents concerns over the impact of the construction in their neighborhoods.

“Its going to be a challenging year for the community,” said Chief Engineer Bill Sedewitz “We’d like to do whatever we can to minimize that, but that is just the reality,” he said.

Officials said that they plan to start construction after the morning rush  at 9 a.m., although they say that they will have to work through evening rush hour.

Paul Scott Director of Framingham’s Capital Construction Management  said that the top three potential impacts of the construction on residents would be access to one’s properties, disruption of sevices and traffic.

“The outreach that we provide is to get people on-board with what we’re doing, understanding what where dealing with, “ said Scott, who added that the residents concerns “are important to us to do the best we can to minimize the impact” to the abutters of the construction.

Because it takes a day to install one pipe construction is expected to be completed slowly.

According to the project manager the sewer job goes from one part of town to another starting on Archer street and proceeds to Concord Street across Route 9 to School Street.

A new waste-water facility will be coming online on A Street along with 17,000 feet of gravity interceptor sewers which will save the town in having to move the waste to the Deer Island treatment plant in Boston Harbor with Force Mains. (A sewer pipe that conveys the sewage under pressure to a point of discharge.)

The project manager said that main breaks caused by corrosion of current pipes cost the town “significant dollars, tens of thousands of dollars to repair.”

The DPW says that with the elimination of several pump stations the town will save on energy, operations and maintenance costs.

To do this, a large diameter sewer must be placed deep in the ground. The reasons there are Force Mains is that in the past DPW engineers where hesitant to put deep sewers in the ground. It was  considered much easier at the time to use the  pump stations to move the waste from point A to point B.

A couple dozen residents attended the hearing last week at Cameron Middle.