PROJECTS
Wastewater, Water, Transportation, Educational, Marketing, Private, and Landscape Projects
WSD MANHOLE REHABILITATION WASTEWATER
WATER | MANHOLE | REHABILITATION | SEWER
PROJECT OVERVIEW
Staying a step ahead contractors requires utmost coordination so residents and businesses experience minimal impact.
Some of the Valley’s manholes are very old and made of bricks, and others are newer and made of concrete. No matter the material, manholes require rehabilitation, which involves sand blasting the interior, repairing metal and iron parts that degrade over time, and then recoating the interior. There are lots of pieces and parts to manhole renovation, and it’s important infrastructure work that never ends. Crews jackhammer out the concrete collar and sand blast the interior, and there’s significant dust control with water blasting. Work trucks are noisy, especially as they idle while construction repairs are underway.
MoreOWNER
City of Phoenix
PROJECT LOCATION
Various Locations
SERVICES
-Project Hotlines
-Construction Notices
-PI Coordination
PROJECT TEAM
-Dibble Engineering
-JPCI
DESIGN
N/A
CONSTRUCTION
N/A
THE CHALLENGE
Manhole rehabilitation impacts residents and businesses, so outreach is a critical element for project success.
Working in residential neighborhoods is challenging, especially when easements are overgrown and visually inspecting manholes is difficult.
“We want to make sure that people know about the project and its entirety, because you’re literally in their backyard,” says Anne Thompson, president. “They may not have any idea that the manholes were there, or why all of a sudden we would need access.”
Just because notifications are sent out doesn’t mean that the homeowner received it or remembers. When residents are surprised by the crews and call the hotline, YPMO listens and explains what’s happening so the caller is satisfied.
City of Phoenix operates the water and wastewater for Paradise Valley. When residents and business are impacted, they often respond with “not in my backyard.” It takes great patience to listen well and help the contractor get in and get out with minimal impact on the resident. “Some residents are more high maintenance than others,” says Thompson.
These are very fast-paced projects,” says Hall. “Sometimes we don’t even have a schedule—they tell us right before they go into a neighborhood. Other times, the schedules are difficult to decipher. It takes a lot of planning to make sure we’re getting the right areas out on the right times.”