February 5, 2023
By: Dwayne Page
The City of Smithville Public Works Department has announced that Carter Street will be closed to through traffic starting this week for the rehabilitation of deteriorating sewer lines and manholes.
Although the street will be closed to the general public, residents who live on Carter Street of course will have access.
The work is the beginning of an almost one-million-dollar project to rehab sewer lines and manholes in certain parts of town including Earl Avenue and West Main Street in addition to Carter Street.
Last September, the aldermen voted to award a bid to the John T. Hall Construction Company of Sparta in the amount of $939,620 which was the least expensive of the three bids submitted. The other two bids were from Pipeworks of Tullahoma at $1,159,000 and H.L. Construction Management of Cleveland for $1,186,000.
Earlier in the year the city had budgeted $750,000 from its share of American Rescue Plan Act (ARP) and Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC) grant funds to cover costs of the rehab effort but as it turned out that amount was not enough. The city is making up the difference from its water and sewer fund reserves.
Last March, the city contracted with J.R. Wauford & Company Consulting Engineers to provide services related to the project.
Daniel Tribble, Manager of Field Services for the J.R. Wauford Company who addressed the mayor and aldermen in September said the project will be done in phases.
“Phase one of this project includes the open cut sewer replacement of approximately 2,700 feet of sewer line along Earl Avenue, West Main Street, and Carter Street. The second part of phase one of this job is the CCTV or closed-circuit television inspection of approximately 7,400 feet of sewer lines mostly in cross country areas that flow along creeks and not in roadways. Our plan is to review the CCTV footage and make a recommendation to the city as to the appropriate rehabilitation methods for these areas,” Tribble said.