The Pierre City Commission has approved four contracts totaling almost $320-thousand to finish repairing a section of the town’s main sewer line running under a city park.
City administrator Kristi Honeywell says the repair project is a side effect of the high groundwater level we’re experiencing this year. She says saturated ground makes soil unstable, causing sewer lines to become stressed and the repair work to be more complex.
Mayor Steve Harding says the project requires a team of professionals who are experts at working in challenging conditions.
The four contracts approved cover the costs to:
- engineer the project
- replace 150 feet of failing pipe
- line an additional 485 feet of existing pipe
- remove the groundwater from the sewer line trench
Pending legal review, repair work on the failing sanitary sewer pipe running under Griffin Park will begin this week.
According to Honeywell, the City is using fiberglass materials for the repair work. She says it’s more durable than traditional pipe materials and is expected to mitigate future challenges presented by high groundwater levels.
The sewer line that runs through Griffin Park carries two-thirds of Pierre’s wastewater to the wastewater treatment plant. Approximately 1.2-million gallons flow through the wastewater system each day.
