Fairlawn Industries
Fairlawn Industries is a fabric dye company, located directly across
the Passaic River from the Patterson, New Jersey Sewage Collection
System. Patterson’s municipal system ultimately discharges at The
Passaic Valley Sewage Commission Treatment Facility in Newark. Since
1926 the Fairlawn Industries site had pumped sewage across the river
via a ductile iron force main on the river floor. In the early spring
of 1996, the force main was damaged by debris falling from a bridge
reconstruction; the main began spilling raw sewage into the river on
Easter Sunday.
GGA Engineering was called to evaluate the damage and
conceive a repair plan. A temporary bypass force main was installed
as the effort began. GGA contracted with an underwater
inspection firm to photograph and evaluate the damage. Mr. Gardner
quickly disproved a preliminary suggestion by an insurance adjuster
that the pipe had eroded and a group of alternative repair options
were identified.
Using a "present worth" analysis, GGA
determined that the most cost-effective solution was to abandon the
pumping facility and struct a deep gravity sewer to an existing nearby
trans-river siphon. This design eliminated long-term operation and
maintenance costs of the pumping facility and ultimately reduced the
capital cost of a difficult mid-river sewer repair.
Since the siphon had a limited capacity and the dye house operation
conducts large batch processing, several 10,000-gallon flow attenuation
tanks were designed and installed on the dye house operation floor. The
entire system was designed and permitted within 150 days. At its deepest
point, the new sewer is 26’ below street level and was constructed
adjacent to a heavily traveled intersection with minimal traffic
disruption.
Finally, Mr. Gardner provided expert testimony in New Jersey Superior
Court regarding the condition of the damaged pipe and replacement
sequence. The ultimate judgment of the court resulted in new State
Case Law, and savings to the customer estimated at $385,000 plus $26,000
per year in operating costs.
Benefits
Cut operating costs by 90% the first month.
Resulted in new case law regarding the location of insured property.
Designed and permited in only 150 days.
Outdated pumping facility replaced by gravity sewer.
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