As the national capital’s attention is focused on infrastructure, Macomb County is undertaking a major sewer project to prevent sinkhole disasters like the 2016 Christmas Eve.

A $16 million preventive construction project on the 15-mile road east of Garfield Road near the border of Clinton Town and Fraser City has begun.

Macomb County Public Works Commissioner Candice Miller (Candice Miller) said that the investment in "critical underground infrastructure" is designed to ensure that the community does not encounter another sinkhole caused by the collapse of the sewer in the area five years ago. disaster.

Miller said in a statement on Monday: "There is a lot of discussion about the need to maintain roads and bridges, and this is well deserved."

"At the same time, we must not forget our underground infrastructure. Many people may not see it, but they must not forget it. At the Macomb County Public Works Office, we focus on maintaining underground infrastructure. We simply cannot afford to be like 2016 Another infrastructure disaster that happened on Christmas Eve."

According to the press release, this week began to excavate the shaft along the 15-mile road. The shaft being excavated is 28 feet wide and will eventually reach a depth of 40 feet to allow workers to enter the Macomb Interceptor Drain to perform important repairs on the concrete pipes deep in the ground.

The project is located in section 6 of the drain pipe of the Macomb Interceptor. After bidding, the Macomb Interceptor Drain Drainage District committee awarded the Segment 6 construction contract to Ric-Man Construction of Sterling Heights in April last year. The total project cost was US$16 million.

Miller said in the press release: "We are investing in our critical underground infrastructure in a strategic location, so we will never have a sinkhole/sewer collapse again."

The Office of Public Works hopes that states and counties will provide federal American Rescue Program (ARP) funds to cover work costs. Spokesperson Nob Franz said in an email that this will prevent residents and businesses from increasing rates in 11 MIDDD communities.

The restoration project will include the use of fiberglass-reinforced polymer pipes along the 15-mile road to lining approximately 2,100 feet of 5 feet in diameter concrete pipes with sliding linings to protect them from corrosion by hydrogen sulfide sewer gas.

During the construction period, two lanes in a 15-mile half-mile section will be closed for another approximately eight months. The lane between Simon Drive and Bobcean Road was closed. Keep two-way traffic along the central left-turn lane.

Around the end of spring or early summer of 2022, the second phase of the 6th section of sewer maintenance is planned to begin in the immediate west.

It will include the sliding lining of the 1,200-foot curved section of the 11-foot-diameter Romeo Boom Interceptor, located at the 15-mile-Garfield intersection. An "air jumper" will also be installed on the west side of the intersection, which will connect to the existing biological filter. This will help alleviate the odor problem that has been a source of complaints in the area for many years.

The entire Section 6 sewer repair project is scheduled to be completed by the end of the spring of 2023.

Once again, it is hoped that states and counties will provide ARP funds to prevent the increase in the rates of residents and businesses in the 11 communities of MIDDD.

The collapse in 2016 was later blamed on human error, which led to a huge sinkhole at 15 Mile near Eberlein Drive. It cost 70 million US dollars and took nine months to repair. Twenty families were temporarily displaced.

Miller called the collapse "the worst infrastructure disaster in Macomb County history."

In addition to the towns of Fraser and Clinton, MIDDD’s communities also include Sterling Heights, Utica, and New Haven, as well as Chesterfield, Harrison, Lenox, Macomb, Shelby, and Washington town.