ACUA/Contractors work 30 feet below the surface to complete a wastewater project at Bader Field.
ATLANTIC CITY – The Atlantic County Utilities Authority is currently undergoing a major infrastructure improvement to bring wastewater from the Downbeach area to its wastewater treatment plant in Atlantic City.
A prematurely deteriorated pipeline originally build in the 1970s is being upgraded at a cost of $3.7 million. The pipeline deteriorated from the infiltration of sand, grit and small rocks that come from Ventnor, Margate, Longport and the Seaview Harbor section of Egg Harbor Township, according to a blog post on the ACUA website.
The pipeline repair stretches from Bader Field off Route 40, under the Atlantic City Expressway and Atlantic City Rail Line to the treatment plant located off Route 30.
A contractor employed a new directional boring system to dig a hole large enough to accommodate the new HDPE pipeline, and minimize disturbance of marine life along the route. Directional drilling started on June 10 and took a few days to complete.
Contractors are currently connecting the new pipe to the existing system at the Bader Field location. But first, they had to excavate 30 feet below the surface to reach the level of the pipe. A coffer dam made of steel sheeting and steel I-beams was built to protect workers making the connection in the hole. A tube pumps fresh air into the hole to dilute higher concentrations of sulfur present at that depth in the marsh environment.
Once the connections are made, the hole will be backfilled and the coffer dam removed and the process will be completed on the opposite end near the water treatment plant.
Earlier this year, the ACUA completed the installation of a slip line to repair a leak in a 27-inch force main located on Wellington Avenue in the Ventnor Heights area.
