DELAYED REOPENING OF EAST JACKSON STREET IGNITES IMPROVEMENT INITIATIVE

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Last Thursday, City of Thomasville Utilities’ Wastewater Department began a project to replace a sanitary sewer service line that crossed East Jackson Street. Despite plans to minimize the impact to area motorists, the project encountered unexpected delays that resulted in the busy roadway remaining closed well into Friday afternoon.

“Our plan was to begin the work at 9 p.m. on Thursday evening with an anticipated completion time of 7 a.m. Friday morning,” said City Engineer Wayne Newsome. “Our intention was to finish the project in the overnight hours so that we could reopen East Jackson Street in time for the busy morning commute. Unfortunately, that did not happen.”

Newsome said that the project encountered several problems that significantly delayed the project’s completion, with the biggest being an unanticipated concrete layer that laid just below the road’s surface.

“We ended up hitting a concrete slab that was about 12-18 inches thick, substantially thicker than we anticipated,” said Newsome. “In order to reach the sanitary sewer line, our utility crew had to spend a great deal of time breaking through the concrete. We did not know this slab beneath the road’s surface was so thick, so it was an unexpected – and unwelcomed – surprise to us.”

With the roadway already deconstructed, utility crews had no choice but to continue with the repair. “We did not foresee the scope of work being as extensive as it was,” said Newsome. “I would compare this to replacing a pipe as part of normal home repair and discovering in the tear-out that you needed to repair the foundation at the same time. It was definitely not something we anticipated.”

Once the repair was complete, Newsome said a second delay was encountered. “The backfill portion took longer than expected because of compaction issues,” he said. “Once you dig a hole and begin to refill it, you must compact the soil down so that it provides a safe foundation for asphalt and, eventually, safe travel for motorists. This took much longer than anticipated due to soil conditions.”

Keith Bass, Interim Utilities Superintendent, said the situation has sparked conversation internally about ways the process can be improved moving forward.

“Internally, we’ve met as a team to identify how we can improve our processes so that we can anticipate delays and their impact to the community,” Bass said. “We’ve also discussed how we can better communicate when work of this scope is occurring. I’m encouraged by the conversations we are having as ultimately, our goal is always to exceed the expectations of our community.”


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