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"We don't skimp on materials in our system" After extremely heavy rainfall resulted in severe flooding in both 1986 and 1996, the city of Midland, Michigan, had seen enough. "There was sewage in basements because of overflows from the flooding," said Dave Foote, office manager of Midland's Engineering Department. "It was clear that corrective action was needed." To expand and shore up Midland's sewer system, the city's 45,000 residents essentially doubled it by approving a bond issue to back a $14 million sanitary sewer improvement program. The project included three pump stations and seven miles of new sewer lines. Begun in April 2001, the improvements were scheduled for completion by the end of the year. A major part of the project -- the Saginaw Sanitary Force Main -- entailed the installation of 2.5 miles of AMERICAN 42-inch Fastite® and Lok-Ring® Ductile Iron pipe lined with PolybondPlus®. The PolybondPlus® lining features a primer layer of fusion-bonded epoxy and an interior surface layer of specially modified DuPont Fusabond® polyethylene. Midland had considered a different lining but instead chose to pay a substantial premium for the PolybondPlus®. "We anticipated a corrosive environment within the pipeline as it aged," Foote said. "The pipe won't be full all the time, so there will be air between the sewage and the pipe lining. That will eventually create sulfuric acid, so we wanted the best material available to protect the pipe." "PolybondPlus® was recommended by the manufacturer, and we were willing to pay more for a good, quality product. We don't skimp on materials in our system. So we upgraded to PolybondPlus®. We had heard it was a better lining, and there was no reason to think otherwise. We've always had good luck with AMERICAN, and we think their ductile iron pipe is a superior product." In addition to the PolybondPlus® lining, the Saginaw Sanitary Force Main featured almost 3,000 feet of AMERICAN's restrained joint 42-inch Lok-Ring® pipe. More than 10,000 feet of AMERICAN 42-inch Fastite® pipe also were installed. AMERICAN worked carefully with the contractor, Dunigan Brothers Inc. of Jackson, Michigan, to plan for the exact number of restrained joints needed to make the line as cost effective as possible. According to Tim Dunigan, vice president of Dunigan Brothers, "AMERICAN took a lot of time to work with us planning for the job. It involved a lot of technical work to determine exactly how much restrained joint pipe and how many fittings would be needed." Dunigan Brothers laid the pipeline at an average depth of 8 feet -- well below the frost line. "I had never worked with 42-inch pipe before, so I was very satisfied with how things went," Dunigan said, "We were dropping the AMERICAN pipe under existing lines -- big 72- and 78-inch sewer lines." "But every thousand feet or so, we came to an intersection, and there we had to go 18 feet deep," Dunigan said. "So at those spots we would start digging an 18-foot dip that actually covered a couple of hundred feet or so. That's where we used the restrained joints. We did that at 11 intersections that we came to." Dunigan Brothers encountered no troublesome rock or other problem soil conditions. "Because we ordered the right amount of pipe, everything worked out OK," Dunigan said. "We didn't have to do any cutting or welding that would have increased labor costs. AMERICAN did a great job. This is the first time I've ever worked with them directly, although my brother has worked with them on several occasions. They did a great job, they really did. I was really pleased with the service they provided."

The distinctive light-green color of PolybondPlus® provides the foreground of this shot at an installation site in Midland. The PolybondPlus® lining features a primer layer of fusion-bonded epoxy and an interior surface layer of specially modified DuPont Fusabond® polyethylene. Midland had considered a different lining but instead chose to pay a substantial premium for the PolybondPlus®. AMERICAN 42-inch Ductile Iron pipe and fittings are shown shortly before installation. "We don't skimp on materials in our system," said Dave Foote, office manager of Midland's Engineering Department. "So we upgraded to PolybondPlus®." A crew lowers a piece of AMERICAN PolybondPlus® -lined pipe into a trench along the installation route in Midland. More than 13,000 feet of the pipe were put in the ground.

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