Sewer Repairs In Rockford Underway

Major repair work has begun on the town of Rockford’s sewer line, which suffered heavy erosion during January’s flooding.

When Rock Creek flooded this winter, it damaged a 1,500-foot-long section of the streambank and threatened to expose the town’s main sewer line. The 40-year-old line carries the town’s waste to lagoons south of Highway 27.

Officials said the line has a greater chance of failing if nothing is done to build up the deteriorating streambank. The project involves replacing a 10-foot-wide soil area with infill and riprap along the streambank. Trees, shrubs and grasses will be planted near the pipe to help stabilize the soil, said Bruce Williams, district conservationist with the U.S. Natural Resources Conservation Service.

The NRCS and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers are working on the $155,000 project with the Rockford Public Works. Federal dollars cover 75 percent of the project’s cost and local funds cover the remaining 25 percent.

The project is eligible for money from the Emergency Watershed Protection program, Williams said. That program provides financial and technical assistance to help communities avert life- or health-threatening situations following natural disasters.

“This project will reestablish the integrity of the main sewer line,” said Grey Fairbanks, the town’s public works supervisor. “It will relieve the stress from additional floods of the magnitude which we experienced.”

Federal and local officials are concerned that another flood could destroy the entire sewer system.

The Corps of Engineers is repairing upstream from the NRCS project. Repair of the dike system will help eliminate breaches in the dikes during flooding.

, DataTimes