Title
Emergency Repair of the Wedgewood Forcemain Discharge Manholes and Piping
History
On Monday, April 6, Public Works crews responded to a report of water coming out of a manhole at 13757 Southwest Highway. The initial investigation found that a manhole that accepts the discharge from the Wedgewood forcemain had collapsed. Public Works crews were able to slow the flow from the forcemain by diverting the flow to an older emergency forcemain. After further investigation, the discharge pipe from the manhole also failed, because it was filled with stone blocking any flow through the pipe. Public Works crews immediately started bypass pumping around the collapsed pipe to contain the remaining flow through the forcemain so it would not overflow into the creek.
When hydrogen sulfide, a byproduct of raw sewage, mixes with oxygen in the discharge manhole, it creates a condensation that is very acidic and attacks the concrete of the manhole.
Due to the size and location of the discharge manholes and sewer pipes, Airy’s Inc. of Joliet, Illinois, was contacted to make emergency repairs to the manhole and related sewer pipes. The Village has utilized Airy’s Inc. for emergency repair work for over the last twenty (20) years, and their pricing has routinely beat any other contractor. As the Village’s primary emergency response contractor for utility work, Airy’s routinely postpones other customer’s work to address the Village’s emergencies.
Since they were called in, Airy’s has repaired the collapsed manhole and replaced the section of sewer main that collapsed. They have also televised the sewer discharge piping from the Wedgewood forcemain discharge manhole to the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District (MWRD) interceptor manhole. The approximate length is six hundred twenty (620) feet. That inspection found that a pipe is in danger of collapsing squarely underneath the railroad tracks used by the commuter rail company, Metra.
Public Works determined that if thi...
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