| All Macon, Georgia, had seen for days on end was rain, but then on July 5, 1994, the sun broke through. The sunshine was a welcome relief for Gene Holcomb, director of the Macon Water Authority. Given the heavy rains that summer, Holcomb had become concerned about the possibility of flood water reaching Macon's water treatment facilities.
But when the sky cleared, he felt more at ease. He felt even better that night when he saw a ticker-tape news update inch across his television screen. It said that the Ocmulgee River would crest at 25 feet in three days. "I figured if the river crested at 25 feet, we were in good shape," Holcomb said. "Our worst flood up until then had occurred in 1990. The river reached 30 feet during that one, and water reached the yard of our treatment plant but didn't get onto the operations floor. So, I wasn't alarmed when I saw the river would crest at 25 feet." For reassurance, Holcomb dialed a computer-operated gauge attached to a river bridge for an accurate water level reading. Then he became alarmed: The reading told him that the river was already at 25.15 feet, three days before it was supposed to be there. "I got the reading and immediately knew it didn't fit the model that the National Weather Service was using for its forecast," he said. "Within an hour, we had a hundred people at our Riverside Drive Water Treatment Plant, furiously filling sand bags." They worked all night. It was all for naught. "Usually, when you have a flood, the water rises rapidly until it hits the flood plain," Holcomb said. "When it gets to the flood plain, it basically stops rising. This water didn't stop. It was raging water, and it kept getting higher. At 7:30 the next morning, it got into our settling basins at the plant. That effectively shut us down. "From the time I called the gauge until we shut down, which was about eight hours, the river rose eight feet to 33 feet," he said. "It eventually rose to 40 feet, but it swept the gauge away at 35 feet, so the official flood level was 'above 35 feet.' Everything on the operations floor of the plant was underwater. We were out of business." For Macon, it was plain and simple misery. The Ocmulgee reached 22 feet over flood stage, shattering the previous flood record by 10 feet and surpassing the 500 year projections by three feet. Houses were totally submerged. Entire subdivisions were evacuated. There was no electricity. In Macon and surrounding Bibb County, more than 30 local and state roads were impassable. Portions of Interstates 75 and 16 running through the city were closed. Some of the area's residents rigged up pumps in their homes so that they could flush toilets and get water. Water was available at emergency stations, but generally speaking, the area was without potable water for 19 days. The Macon Water Authority faced a long period of exhausting days and nights. "We were working along two lines," Holcomb said. "The hardest part was to get the plant up and running. At times, we had as many as 350 people on site doing different tasks to get that done." The flood left a watermark on the walls of the treatment plant well above the doors. Damages totaled $6 million. In addition, the flood heavily damaged equipment at a pumping station under construction at the Riverside Drive site. The authority was forced to terminate that $13-million contract at a cost of $4.7 million. One of Holcomb's first steps after the flood was to call L.D. McMullen, his counterpart in Des Moines, Iowa. McMullen had faced the same situation when a flood inundated Des Moines in 1993. "I told him I needed his help," Holcomb said. "He told me that where I would need the most help was in dealing with FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency). He even sent a representative down, and she actually worked with us during that time." Holcomb's praise for FEMA is effusive. "We've had a wonderful relationship with FEMA, and I think a lot of it had to do with personalities," he said. "Their point man for this project was a guy named Presley Beaver. He was a former public works manager who understood water treatment and knew what we were trying to do. Virtually every funding decision that was made throughout this process has been in our favor. With the support we had from Des Moines and the federal agencies, we had the benefit of teamwork." With the approval of FEMA and others, a site at Town Creek was chosen for the new plant. FEMA and other relief agencies paid for most of the new $125-million facility. Scheduled for dedication in May of 2000, the Town Creek Water Treatment Plant is designed to supply water in worst-case flood and drought scenarios. It sits on a 3,000-acre site near the Ocmulgee River and includes a 625-acre, 6.5-billion-gallon reservoir. Areas around the plant will include nature trails and be available for hiking, mountain biking, and fishing. AMERICAN supplied large amounts of piping for the project. Here is a brief look at the six major contracts on the job: Contract 5: Water Treatment Plant -- Cost: $85 million; Capacity: 60 MGD, up from 48 MGD at the Riverside Drive plant; Easily expandable to 90 MGD and peak capacity of 120 MGD. During the normal course of operations, water will be drawn from the reservoir and then treated. Depending on the situation, however, the utility can use water directly from the river, or from the river and the reservoir at the same time. Piping material includes 4-inch through 64-inch AMERICAN Fastite®, Lok-Ring®, Flex-Ring®, and flanged pipe and fittings. Contract 2: Raw Water Intake and Booster Pump Station at the Ocmulgee River -- Cost: $12.6 million; Includes 4-inch through 60-inch Fastite®, Lok-Ring®, Flex-Ring®, and flanged pipe and fittings. Two 60-inch lines were installed to convey water from the river to the pumping station. Contract 3A: 54-Inch Raw Water Main and 42-Inch Finished Water Main -- Cost: $5.8 million; Includes 6,140 feet of 42-inch Fastite®; 2,500 feet of 42-inch Lok-Ring®; 440 feet of 42-inch Flex-Lok®; 2,000 feet of 54-inch Fastite®; and 5,980 feet of 54-inch Lok-Ring®. This contract called for a 54-inch raw water main from near the booster pump station to the plant's reservoir and a 42-inch finished water main that crosses the Ocmulgee River and Interstate 75, tying into a distribution main leading to northwest Macon. Contract 4: Raw Water Intake Pump Station at the Reservoir -- Cost: $4.2 million; Includes 6-inch through 64-inch AMERICAN flanged and Lok-Ring® pipe. Contract 3B: 64-Inch Finished Water Main, 54-Inch Raw Water Main -- Cost: $4 million; Includes 2,000 feet of 64-inch Fastite®; 2,960 feet of 64-inch Lok-Ring®; 1,480 feet of 54-inch Fastite®; 1,340 feet of 54-inch Lok-Ring®; 440 feet of 54-inch Flex-Lok®. This contract included a 54-inch raw water line leading from near the river intake to the booster pump station and a 64-inch finished water line running from the new plant across the river to the Macon side. Contract 3C: 64-Inch Finished Water Main Connections -- Cost: $3.7 million; Includes approximately two miles of 64-inch AMERICAN pipe running from a spot on the Macon side of the river near the raw water intake station to existing distribution lines at the Riverside Drive plant. As it did with FEMA and other agencies, the Macon Water Authority worked closely with engineers, contractors and AMERICAN in planning for and executing construction of the Town Creek Water Treatment Plant. "The greatest challenge for everyone involved on this project was keeping it on schedule," said Elmo Richardson, president of DSAtlantic/Tribble & Richardson, Inc. of Macon. "It has been one of the largest, if not the largest, projects in the middle Georgia area, and it required a considerable amount of coordination and teamwork." "American Cast Iron Pipe Company has a long history of working as a team member with the Macon Water Authority and this project was certainly no exception," Richardson said. "Dependability and timely response in dealing with issues were extremely important. The Macon Water Authority has always insisted that the best materials and equipment be specified and installed on its projects. The reputation of AMERICAN to deliver a quality product and to stand behind that product is very important to the water authority and our firm." "AMERICAN performed extremely well on this project," said Dan Reynolds, project manager for M.A. Mortenson of Minneapolis. "The logistics of having to have several truckloads of pipe here on a daily basis for more than a year is quite an undertaking. Their service was superb." Mortenson received OSHA's Star Status Award for the company's safety program on the Town Creek project -- only the fifth time the award has been made in the United States. "We are very proud of being accepted into the Voluntary Protection Program and getting the Silver Star Award," Reynolds said. Donnie Bailey, project manager for John D. Stephens, also cited careful planning as a key to the project. "We always take the point of view that you plan what you're going to do and then do it," Bailey said. "Laying the pipe is the easy part. And AMERICAN sure does its part as far as getting the pipe there when it's supposed to be there. They always do." Both Macon, with a population of 105,000, and surrounding Bibb County are high-growth areas. In addition to the Town Creek Water Treatment Plant, the Macon Water Authority is laying the groundwork to meet future growth expected in the area. The utility will install approximately 80 miles of AMERICAN water piping this year throughout the county, along with 15 miles of sewer piping. In addition, Macon is installing at least 2,000 fire hydrants and 4,500 gate valves supplied by American Flow Control, a division of American Cast Iron Pipe Company. "We've got about 50,000 customers," Holcomb said, "and we hope to eventually hit 60,000. Our goal is to have the infrastructure in place that can deliver water to everyone in the county. We're adding customers regularly. The last time I checked, we were about 85 service taps behind." Holcomb worked in Cartersville, Georgia, prior to heading the Macon Water Authority. AMERICAN has supplied him with water pipe and fittings in both cities. Asked about his relationship with AMERICAN, he is very matter of fact: "The way I judge a pipe company is how they respond when you need them," Holcomb said. "With AMERICAN, it's just a case of them always being there. If we have a question or need something looked at, they just come in and take care of it. Of course, they make an awfully good product." "They also support a lot of the organizations we support," he said. "They are a strong backer of AWWA, WEF and DIPRA, and we think that's good. They are always looking for better ways to do things. They listen to us when we talk about product improvements, and occasionally what we say triggers a modification that betters the operation of this utility." |
 Gene Holcomb, general manager of the Macon Water Authority, is shown inside the Riverside Drive Water Treatment Plant looking at the watermark left on the wall by the flood. The watermark, well above the door, underscores the year of the flood, 1994. A life preserver hangs on the wall above the door, providing a bit of humor for what was in fact a grim situation.
|
| Owner: | Macon Water Authority |
| Project: | Town Creek Water Treatment Plant |
| Engineers/ Contractors: |
|
| Contract #5 | Water Treatment Plant |
| Engineer: | Jordan, Jones and Goulding, Inc., Atlanta, Georgia |
| Contractor: | M.A. Mortenson, Minneapolis, Minnesota |
| Material: | 4"-64" Fastite®, Lok-Ring®, Flex-Ring® and flanged pipe and fittings |
| Contract #2: | Raw Water Intake and Pump Station (River) |
| Engineer: | DSAtlantic/Tribble & Richardson, Macon, Georgia |
| Contractor: | J.S. Haren, Etowah, Tennessee |
| Material: | 4"-64" Fastite®, Lok-Ring®, Flex-Ring®, and flanged pipe and fittings |
| Contract #3A: | 54" Raw Water Main, 42" Finished Water Main |
| Engineer: | DSAtlantic/Tribble & Richardson, Macon |
| Contractor: | John D. Stephens, Inc., Stone Mountain, Georgia |
| Material: | 6,140 feet of 42" Fastite®; 2,500 feet of 42" Lok-Ring®; 440 feet of 42" Flex-Lok®; 2,000 feet of 54" Fastite®; and 5,980 feet of 54" Lok-Ring® |
| Contract #4: | Raw Water Intake Pump Station (Reservoir) |
| Engineer: | Jordan, Jones and Goulding, Atlanta |
| Contractor: | M.A. Mortenson, Minneapolis, Minnesota |
| Material: | 6"-64" flanged and Lok-Ring® pipe |
| Contract #3B: | 64" Finished Water Main/54" Raw Water Main |
| Engineer: | DSAtlantic/Tribble & Richardson, Macon |
| Contractor: | Tommy L. Griffin, Macon, Georgia |
| Material: | 2,000 feet of 64" Fastite®; 2,960 feet of 64" Lok-Ring®; 1,480 feet of 54" Fastite®; 1,340 feet of 54" Lok-Ring®; and 440 feet of 54" Flex-Lok® |
| Contract #3C: | 64" Finished Water Main |
| Engineer: | DSAtlantic/Tribble & Richardson, Macon |
| Contractor: | J.S. Haren, Etowah, Tennessee |
| Material: | 3,720 feet of 64" Lok-Ring®, 6,800 feet of 64" Fastite®, and 500 feet of 54" Lok-Ring® |
| Sales Engineer: | Scott Ayers |
| Customer Service Representative: |
Lori Fant |
© 1999 American Cast Iron Pipe Co.
