• Project Data

Jacksonville, North Carolina, is located in Onslow County, which has everything in place to become the second-fastest growing county in the nation. A large reason for this is that Jacksonville and surrounding areas have actually benefited from the 1993-94 Base Realignment Commission's cuts in other areas, which resulted in an expansion of the Marine Corps' Camp Lejuene -- the city's largest employer. "A lot of military personnel from bases that were closed were sent to Camp Lejuene," said Jim Dexter, a Jacksonville Public Utilities inspector in the Engineering and Construction Division. "The number of people at Camp Lejuene has grown in the past couple of years, and there has been growth from other sources as well." After their enlistments are up, many Camp Lejuene Marines and their spouses have retired in Onslow County. These days, however, they are being joined by more and more newcomers. "We've got temperate weather, we've got beaches, and the cost of living is very reasonable," Dexter said. "That has attracted more people, and we've also done a very good job in our business recruiting efforts." The picture wasn't as rosy almost 10 years ago when Jacksonville was faced with expanding its wastewater treatment capacity. Jacksonville was discharging wastewater effluent into the New River, which runs through this city of approximately 75,000. Jacksonville had strong reservations about continuing to discharge its permitted 4.45 MGD of effluent into the New River. So city officials decided to make a clean break from the way things had been done. The result: a massive, $45-million land treatment system, which is scheduled for completion in October. "We're taking our 4 million gallons of effluent out of the river and putting it all into the new system," Dexter said. "We're doing our part to clean up the river, and we hope others will follow." The design engineer, Malcolm Pirnie, Inc. of Charlotte, North Carolina, utilizing the services of Earth Systems Associates, Ltd., of Athens, Georgia, developed an overall project design concept. That concept called for a system in which treated wastewater is distributed through a sprawling irrigation network. The irrigated water supplies nutrients to the application areas, which in turn promotes rapid growth of trees that can be harvested for wood. The irrigation system for Jacksonville's facility covers 6,300 acres and has 18,000 sprinkler heads. A careful evaluation of the many soil types at the site was required to see how much treated water could be applied. The on-site expertise of soil scientists, geologists, hydrologists, foresters, and wastewater engineering specialists was needed for more than a year before construction started in the fall of 1995. Similar systems are operating in New Zealand and Europe. An operation serving Clayton County in the Atlanta metropolitan area is the only such system in America larger than Jacksonville's. "This project was notable for several reasons," said Paul Powers, project manager for Malcolm Pirnie. "First of all, none of the treated water will go into the New River, and that addressed a lot of environmental concerns. And then the size of the project certainly made it different from most others." Aside from its buildings and pump station, the project's pretreatment site contains storage and aeration lagoons with capacities of 340 million gallons and 40 million gallons, respectively. The average treatment time will be six to seven days from entry into the system to application in the spray fields. Trees and other vegetation on the site will actually become part of the wastewater treatment system. Because of that, extra care had to be taken throughout construction to minimize damage to the flora while maintaining production in the wet terrain. To make that difficult situation even worse, two hurricanes (Bertha and Fran) and a tropical storm (Josephine) combined during construction to deposit more than 40 inches of rain within a three-month period. More than 11 miles of AMERICAN Flex-Ring® pipe ranging in diameter from 16 inches through 36 inches were installed as part of the project. "The ease and quickness with which the Flex-Ring® pipe could be laid allowed us to maximize production while minimizing the impact of the wet ground conditions and high water table," said John Coffin, project manager with Jacksonville-based Danis Heavy Construction. "And AMERICAN's service on the project was excellent," Coffin said. "Because of the size of the order and the unforgiving schedule, coordination between Danis and AMERICAN had to be highly efficient. "Although several factors -- including multiple pipe sizes, multiple joint types, and several successful value engineering modifications -- combined to confuse the issue, all the correct pipe and fittings arrived at the correct time. This is a direct tribute to AMERICAN's responsive, patient, understanding, and flexible personnel." AMERICAN also worked closely with Danis to help generate cost savings of approximately $215,000 through value engineering, which fit in perfectly with the spirit of the project. The City of Jacksonville, Malcolm Pirnie, and Danis formed a formal partnership to promote team goals and encourage a decision-making process that would benefit all partners. "The idea was that the partners could do more working together than independently or separately," Jacksonville's Dexter said. "And even though we had to fight our way through two hurricanes, there's no doubt in our minds we went about things the right way."	Careful coordination between Danis Heavy Construction and AMERICAN ensured that orders were filled correctly and on time. The project included more than 11 miles of AMERICAN Ductile Iron pipe, some of which is shown here ready for installation. PHOTO BY BARRY HERZBERG OF MALCOLM PIRNIE, INC.
	AMERICAN's Flex-Ring® pipe made Danis' job easier and quicker, which allowed the contractor to maximize production in what were often wet ground conditions. PHOTO BY BARRY HERZBERG OF MALCOLM PIRNIE, INC.
	A stunning sunset envelopes the site of the $45-million Land Treatment System in Jacksonville, North Carolina. The new treatment system is the second-largest of its kind in the United States. PHOTO BY BARRY HERZBERG OF MALCOLM PIRNIE, INC.

Owner:	The City of Jacksonville, North Carolina
Service:	Land Treatment System
Engineer:	Malcolm Pirnie, Inc., Charlotte, North Carolina
Contractor:	Danis Heavy Construction Company, Jacksonville, North Carolina Piping: AMERICAN Flex-Ring® in the following quantities and sizes: 19,000 feet of 36", 5,000 feet of 30", 7,000 feet of 24", 10,000 feet of 20", and 19,000 feet of 16". AMERICAN also supplied Flex-Ring® fittings.
Sales Representative:	Keith Vandegrift
Customer Service Representative:	Bruce Dickerson