City celebrates progress of sewer project, Noland Plant upgrade
Posted on Tuesday, September 25, 2007
URL: http://www.nwanews.com/nwat/News/57551/
Fayetteville Mayor Dan Coody is proud of the work his staff has done with the city’s $ 186 million expansion of sewage treatment facilities, which he said is meeting its new schedule and budget.
Coody on Monday praised city employees who’ve worked on the project since the city parted ways with an engineering firm that had been managing the project until it became public that the project was three years behind schedule and millions of dollars over budget.
“ It’s been nothing but fair weather and blue skies since then, ” Coody told a group gathered for a ribbon cutting Monday afternoon at the upgraded Paul R. Noland Wastewater Treatment Plant. The event marked completion of the biggest portion of work planned for the Noland plant.
The work is part of a citywide improvement program, which includes the construction of a new west side treatment plant and associated sewer mains. Voters in 2001 approved a 3 / 4 cent sales tax to fund up to $ 125 million worth of bonds to fund the entire sewer system revamp. The original estimated cost was $ 120 million, though the city had $ 5 million on hand, which brought the price tag down to $ 115 million.
The new plant, the most time-intensive component, was supposed to be online in 2005, but construction didn’t begin until after that deadline. Once started, that project has remained on scheduled, but in the meantime, the Noland plant has continued to handle all of the sewage from the city and surrounding communities.
For the Noland plant to handle increased treatment demand in the midst of its own $ 14. 8 million rehab project speaks to the quality of work done by the plant’s staff, said Dave Jurgens, Fayetteville’s water and sewer director.
Jurgens, prior to Monday’s event, said the project is an example of the progress that has been made after the city adjusted to the previous problems with the overall project.
The Noland project only required the use of about $ 18, 000 of its $ 118, 235 contingency fund, which was approved along with the $ 14, 818, 644 bid, to cover the expected but unforeseeable needs.
The project hailed as complete Monday is part of $ 17. 5 million in planned and ongoing improvements to the plant, which has served the city since the 1960 ’s. The project included improvements to the headworks, which is where sewage enters the plant and the initial stage of treatment takes place.
Jurgens said that the part of the plant involved was not upgraded in 1988, when the last major upgrade to the site happened.
In addition to the headworks improvement, this project included construction of a sludge-handling facility. Sludge is a solid byproduct of the waste treatment process. The headworks improvements allow for an increase in the amount of sewage that can enter the plant. New filtration equipment was installed, which will increase efficiency of the first step of the process.
By increasing efficiency, the project will reduce certain types of maintenance issues and the amount of landfill space necessary for sludge disposal.
The new screen units remove about 85 percent of debris, compared to the old units, which only stopped about 40 percent, said Billy Ammons, regional business manager for OMI, the company that runs under contract with the city. Ammons gave a tour of the plant after the ribbon cutting.
Ammons said that the improvements will help the staff of the plant, who have been able to meet the stringent permit requirements despite exceeding the plant’s design capacity.
The westside plant is scheduled for substantial completion in May, with final completion scheduled for August. To date three change orders have been approved, taking the cost of the new plant to $ 60. 4 million, not including wetland mitigation, construction of Broyles Road or associated utilities.
To date there has been $ 156. 4 million worth of contracts bid or awarded, with $ 17. 8 million in projects remaining to be bid and a contingency of $ 11. 8 million.