Knox Wastewater Superintendent Addresses Recent Emergency Sewer Line Replacement

Knox Wastewater Superintendent Kelly Clemons informed Board of Works members about 14-feet of 10-inch sewer line that had to be replaced recently.

Clemons told the members on Wednesday that the street department advised her of a sinkhole forming near 407 South Heaton Street. She said there weren’t any signs of debris or sand in any of the manholes so they were unaware of a problem in that area.

Apparently, the homeowner had some issues and had routed their line several times but Clemons said they never contacted the wastewater department.

Clemons said that the issue was eventually identified. She explained, “The tiles were starting to drop into the ground, so they were offset and that’s why I think he had to go 14 feet and take out a couple of extra tiles to straighten that out but the flow’s going through there good now.”

Since this was an emergency situation, she wanted to get the work done as soon as possible. Two contractors were contacted but one of the companies said they didn’t have time to get the necessary equipment once they learned that it would require drilling down more than 10 feet.

JD Excavation took care of the work. Clemons noted that she didn’t have an exact price for the work during the meeting but she knew that they would be billed for time and materials.