Engineer gives updates on bridge, sewer project

LIME SPRINGS - Brian Malm of Bolton & Menk gave two updates to Lime Springs City Council members at their meeting on Dec. 1.

• In regards to the sewer plant, he explained the Inflow  and Infiltration (I&I) problem in Lime Springs.

The town has a lot of old, leaky pipes. Lime Springs has 36,900 linear feet of collection pipe. Of that, about 28,000 linear feet (which is past its expected life) is made of clay, concrete or cast-iron pipe, ranging in diameter from 6-18-inches. The rest is PVC pipe and generally newer.

“This problem is not out of the ordinary for towns. A lot of the pipes have infiltration problems. Clean water seeps into pipes, and then you have to treat it, and it doesn’t need to be.”

Inflow is along the lines of sump pumps draining into the system.

“You have high I&I. If you reduce I&I, you save money on pumping,” Malm said. Lime Springs has a lot of cracked pipes and tree root infiltration.

Obviously the best method would be to replace all the old pipes with new, but that is costly — $6,537,000 for the entire system.

An alternative is to use Cured-In-Place Pipe (CIPP) lining. CIPP consists of lining a new pipe into an old pipe. It is an option that would cost about $5,390,000. 

Although the City needs to do something with the sewer system, Malm suggested waiting for new and less expensive technology to come along. He did say the City needs to show it is working toward saving money for the project and proposed raising sewer rates.

Malm also mentioned going with the do nothing option. “You continue to maintain and hope technology helps in the future.”

• For the Merrill St. bridge, Malm said he has been in contact with Howard County Engineer Nick Rissman. 

The engineer has offered to put the bridge in at no cost for labor. He does request that Lime Springs’ City Engineers  take care of the plans and specifications, geotechnical investigations, legal descriptions, permit applications and fees and more. The cost would be about $10,000.

Malm noted the earlier they get their surveys done, the sooner the project can be put on the 2021 project list for the county. It would also be easier on the surveyors to get that done before the snow flies. Council did not make a decision and put the matter on a future agenda.