Macomb Township sewer mains to be lined

MACOMB TOWNSHIP — Travelers along Romeo Plank Road may encounter some delays in the near future. Those with light stomachs may not be so interested in the reason why.

For those who can handle the dirty truth, the sanitary sewer that runs along Romeo Plank Road is in need of a new lining. Workers from pipe lining company Insituform Technologies will handle that work, accessing the damaged pipes near where Romeo Plank meets 21 Mile Road.

The pipes in question connect the township’s sewer system with the county system.

“As sewage travels down over time, sewage builds up hydrogen sulfide gas,” Macomb Township Department of Public Works Director Kevin Johnson said. “That gas eats the pipe, especially concrete pipe, and so this pipe is eaten quite a bit to the point where you can see some metal wire mesh showing, which lets us know it is in a critical moment of needing to get repaired. To prevent the hydrogen sulfide from damaging any further, we line it and then that protects it.”

With a contract coming in at over $1.2 million, Insituform will apply a cured-in-place pipe resin lining along a 1,456-foot stretch of sanitary sewer ranging from 36 to 48 inches in diameter.

“In general, CIPP lining is a trenchless rehabilitation method to repair existing pipelines without digging and replacing the original pipe,” said Ken Quillen, vice president and area manager of the Midwest region for Insituform, via email. “The process involves inserting and running a felt lining into a preexisting pipe that is impregnated with a specially formulated resin. The resin is then cured with water or steam. Once cured, a new ‘pipe within a pipe’ is in place and operation can resume.”

According to Quillen, Insituform was a pioneer of the CIPP lining technique in the 1970s and has continued to utilize the method over the past half-century. Evidently, Insituform has provided their CIPP services to the township in that time.

“We used them a few years ago, back in 2021/2022, to do another lining project in the township,” Johnson said. “They did a great job for us, so we’re well aware of their expertise and their knowledge of what they can accomplish to make this an effective project without any hiccups.”

With the state of the sewer being so bad that a lining project is being performed, it stands to ask why the township would not opt to dig up the pipe and replace it with a new one. After all, what good will some resin and felt be against concrete-corroding swift sewage gases?

Aside from the cost of lining being cheaper than a full replacement, Johnson says the lining will make the sanitary sewers as good — and as resilient — as a brand-new pipe.

“The goal is for us to avoid a complete replacement,” Johnson said. “Essentially, the lining of this pipe, what this means is the lining segment that goes in is considered a new host pipe. So, if the outer side of the pipe were to fail, it doesn’t matter because this is basically a new pipe in itself. Basically, lining it is replacing it, so the goal is to line the pipe before you actually have to do physical replacement … On average based on our estimates, we usually assume 70-80 years for a lifespan (of a lining) from the township’s perspective.”

The CIPP method allows for lining to take place without workers directly entering the sewer and performing the work. Traffic will likely be impacted with intermittent lane closures in order for Insituform’s crew to access the pipe sections and get equipment into place.

Residents along the sewer will be contacted by Insituform prior to the work with information about what they can do to prevent sewage gases entering their homes during the work. For more information, call the Macomb Township DPW at (586) 589-0687 or email the department at waterandsewer@macomb-mi.gov.