Historic inspection project coming
The Macomb County Public Works Office announced Monday it will undergo the largest and most comprehensive infrastructure inspection program in the county’s history soon.
The new program will include an inspection cycle of a total of 26 miles of large sanitary sewers that are under the jurisdiction of the Public Works Office, plus 360manholes and other aspects of sanitary sewage infrastructure.
The need for such inspections was illustrated by the sinkhole that opened up on 15 Mile Road in Fraser on Christmas Eve 2016, eight days before Public Works Commissioner Candice Miller assumed office. At that time, Miller ordered the inspection of all 17 miles of pipe of that massive sewer in the Macomb Interceptor Drain Drainage District.
“One of the most important things we learned after the 2016 sinkhole is that we need to inspect our underground. Just because infrastructure is out of sight, it should not be out of mind,” Public Works Commissioner Candice S. Miller said Monday in announcing the plan.
“We now have an inspection program that will be done on a regular, prescribed basis so thatwe can stay ahead of problems and maintain that infrastructure in an orderly fashion,” Miller added.
The major sewers are located in the MIDDD that handles sewage from more than 500,000 people in 11 communities, and in other districts including the Chapaton district, which handles sewage flow in the cities of Eastpointe and St. Clair Shores, and the Martin sanitary district in Roseville.
The pipes in the different districts range from 12 inches to 12 feet in diameter, depending on location. Reinforced concrete pipes will be inspected every six years, and non-reinforced concrete pipes every three years.
The program’s widespread, regularly scheduled inspections of the sanitary sewers is the largest initiative of its kind in the history of the Macomb County Public Works Office, Miller said.
“We have to take care of all of our underground infrastructure so that we never have an incident like we did in Fraser with that sinkhole,” said Miller, who compared the planned program to homeowners needing to stay on top of home maintenance. “Just like you have to do in your own house keeping upwith things, we have to do that with our underground.”
The project is expected to go out for competitive bidding by mid-October. Public Works officials plan to ask the Macomb County Board of Commissioners to award a contract before the end of December.