SPRING LAKE HEIGHTS — The Spring Lake Heights Department of Public Works [DPW] announced at the Aug. 21 council meeting that it would be going out to bid for approximately $900,000 in sewerage improvements to clean and line several thousand feet of pipes.
During the presentations portion of the Monday, Aug. 21 meeting, Public Works Director Joseph May announced several DPW projects including the replacement and relining of over 3,000 feet of gravity mains. These mains carry sewage from various pump stations in the borough to the Southern Monmouth Regional Sewerage Authority [SMRSA] facility near the Heights-Wall border.
“What we have is an old asbestos pipe that is impacted by hydrogen sulfide gases—essentially, sewer gas—and it eats away pipe,” said Mr. May. “This pipe was put in in the early ‘60s, and over time the gases and sewage eat that asbestos pipe away.”
He also told The Coast Star about two main collapses that have happened in the recent past that involve this stretch of sewer piping.
“So, we had two collapses in the past two years. That being said, we want to repair it because [it’s] our main line,” he said. “The [sewage from the] whole south end of town goes from Shore Road pump station to Black Creek…[which] is pumped all the way from there until it goes to gravity on Brighton Avenue.”
During the presentation, Councilman Leonard Capristo asked Mr. May how long the new sewer mains would last, as well as if these types of replacements have been done before in the borough’s recent history.
“The lining—when was the last time, if ever, we’ve done that, and how long does it last?” Mr. Capristo asked.
“It’s fiberglass. It has a hundred-year life, if not more,” Mr. May said. “We did an emergency repair quite a few years ago on Ludlow and Church because we had a collapse there. Prior to that, we had a collapse in front of Borough Hall in about 2016.”
Councilwoman Sara King then asked how many manholes were included in the improvements, to which Mr. May answered that he was not certain, but estimated about 15 of them.
Gravity mains are sewerage lines that are not fed through a pump system, but rather through the force of gravity on a slight incline; much like an aqueduct.
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