The Shadow
LOW MOOR – Alleghany County’s new Lower Jackson River Wastewater Treatment Plan may become operational by December.
The board of supervisors was updated on the project Tuesday night during a meeting in Low Moor. The total cost of the project, which is being mandated by the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality, now stands at $22.7 million.
Construction on the wastewater treatment plant, south of Iron Gate, started in late 2009. Work also got under way last year on force mains and pump stations that will help transport sewage from the Selma, Clifton Forge and Cliftondale Park areas to the treatment plant.
In addition, contractors are also working to convert the Clifton Forge wastewater treatment plant into a retention facility and pump station.
Assistant County Administrator Jon Lanford, who is overseeing the project, said construction on the wastewater treatment plant is about 68 percent complete.
Construction began in November 2009, but was delayed 117 days last year due to winter weather.
“It didn’t get off to the best start last year, but since then, the project has moved along very well,” Lanford said. “The plant is starting to take shape. Structures are coming out of the ground.”
Change orders related to the plant’s construction have added $65,268 to the overall cost. Original estimates placed the plant’s construction at $13.8 million. The construction cost now stands at $13.9 million.
Lanford said the plant is expected to reach the substantial completion state by June 13, with final completion occurring around July 13.
Contractors have encountered more additional costs in laying the force main to the new plant. Change orders to that part of the project have totaled $294,570, and pushed the cost past $3 million. Original estimates placed the cost of the force main at $2.8 million.
Lanford said the county spent an additional $223,000 to relocate a water line that runs between Clifton Forge and Iron Gate. The water line was located where engineers planned to place a 20-inch force main that will carry sewage from Clifton Forge and Cliftondale Park to the new wastewater treatment plant.
A temporary, above-ground line was used to carry water from Clifton Forge to Iron Gate while the underground line was relocated.
Contractors also encountered unforeseen problems with rock and fill material while installing the force main in Iron Gate Gorge, adding $71,000 to the cost.
Work on the force main is approximately 88 percent complete. Contractors expect to reach substantial completion by April 30. The anticipated completion date is late May or early June.
The entire piping system that will transport waste to the Lower Jackson River plant includes an eight-inch force main from Selma to the Verge Street-Route 220 intersection.
At the intersection, the eight-inch pipe will tie into the 20-inch force main that runs to Iron Gate. A line from Cliftondale Park will also be connected to the 20-inch force main.
Work on the plant’s conveyance system, which includes construction of pump stations in Selma, Cliftondale Park and Iron Gate, is approximately 9 percent complete.
A septage receiving station is also being added to the Low Moor Wastewater Treatment Plant as part of the project.
That phase of the project will cost approximately $3.06
million and Lanford does not foresee additional costs unless contractors encounter problems will fill material.
In Clifton Forge, work on converting the town’s wastewater treatment plant into a retention and pumping facility is approximately 10 percent complete.
The county will continue to use the Clifton Forge plant’s equalization basins, designed to hold water during heavy rainfall, as part of the overall conveyance system.
The work at the Clifton Forge plant is expected to cost $2.5 million and there have been no change orders to the project. Substantial completion is expected around mid-September with final completion in October.
“If everything falls into place, the Lower Jackson River Wastewater Treatment Plant will go online around early December,” Lanford said.
For the initial two years of operations, the plant will likely be managed by a private firm.
The county missed a Dec. 31 state-imposed deadline for having the plant online, but Lanford expects no fines will be imposed because work is progressing.
“At this point, they are just happy that progress is being made,” Lanford said.
The consent order mandating construction of the plant was issued in 1998.
According to county estimates, the plant will initially serve 2,500 homes and businesses in eastern Alleghany County. The county says the plant will also open Interstate 64 interchanges at Cliftondale and Triangle to residential and commercial development.
They estimate the Lower Jackson River Wastewater Treatment Plant will eventually provide service to more than 3,500 customers. The plant will have the capacity to treat 2.6 million gallons of sewage per day.
