By Chris Moore

chris.moore@panews.com

 

NEDERLAND — The Sewer Line Rehabilitation project bids came in more than 50% under the projected cost, which allows the city to undertake more sewer-related projects, City Manager Chris Duque said.

The project was originally expected to cost the city $10 million, but the city council is expected to vote on a bid for $4.5 million at the next city council meeting Monday.

“We were all surprised when we heard these numbers,” Duque said. “The high bid is $6.3 million. That’s not even close to our estimate. We’ve already talked to the council and gave them a heads up. They are going to look at doing some other sewer projects.”

Duque said there was an emphasis on not using subcontractors for this project.

“We wanted to make sure the contractors were experienced and this wasn’t their first go around,” he said.

 

Other potential projects

With the $10 million already earmarked for sewer work, the remaining money will have to go towards addressing other sewer issues in the city.

“The sewer plant has to be done,” Duque said. “The sewer plant is about 20 years old. It’s time for some maintenance and upgrades. We’ll probably be looking at some additional sewer line projects. These are the priorities, but they weren’t the only issues we identified out in the field.”

Duque said the staff would give the council a list of potential projects when they have their budget workshop in July. The city manager said he wants to space out the other projects.

“I don’t think we want to have two or three projects stacked on top of each other,” he said. “We want to be close to completing one before we move on to the next. We can do work at the sewer plant, while we are doing work in the field, because they are two separate animals.”

The wind and thunderstorm from this past weekend emphasized the need for upgrades at the sewer plant, Duque said.

“That storm caused the sewer plant to run at capacity all the way up until Saturday and the same thing happened again on Sunday,” he said. “You have this infiltration of rain water from the storms getting into the sewer system and that finds its way into the plant and the system gets choked off.”

 

Process

Those who are concerned about the city tearing up the street need not worry. Duque said the project should not be too invasive.

“They are going to go manhole to manhole,” he said. “The goal is to minimize the tearing up of the street. Contractors are still gong to take up a lane of traffic. We’ll have notices sent to the public to inform them of avoiding certain areas due to construction.”

The projects were prioritized based on necessity and the severity of the damage the city observed.

“We’re always going to have to keep up with the infrastructure. This bid amount allows us to do more than we had anticipated. We have needs within our sewer system and this allows us to address these needs.”

The city is also prioritizing not cutting off residents’ water supplies.

“It was part of the bid,” Duque said. “They had to be able to do the bypass pumping to prevent interruptions. Everybody wants the infrastructure, but we you prevent them from utilizing the system, you are going to get complaints. They are trying to minimize that, because it wouldn’t just be a couple of houses. It would be an entire street.

While root infiltration is a cause for line damage, Nederland Public Works Director Rob Woods said he does not anticipate having to remove any trees and the new material should prevent further damage caused by roots. The pipes being replaced are made of clay and have outlived their live-expectancy in some areas, Woods said.

“You can’t say anything is 100%, but we’re pretty sure this material should stop roots from breaking it,” he said.

 

Timeline

Duque said they already have the permits for Kansas City Southern Railroad and Texas Department of Transportation since the projects will go under the railroad and highway.

“After the bid award, we’ll go ahead and give them the notice to proceed and they’ll start procuring the material for the project,” Duque said. “I think realistically, we’re probably looking at construction starting within the next 45 to 60 days.”

The city manager said the project will take more than 12 months to complete and consists of six areas of emphasis. With the additional projects allowed by the low bid, the city will likely do more work on sewers for the next three years.