AMERICAN’s Versatility Shines in Rocky Terrain

Owner: The Water and Sewer Board of the City of Murfreesboro, Tennessee

Project Summary: Murfreesboro, Tennessee, is the fastest growing city in Tennessee, and one of the fastest growing cities in the United States with its population more than doubling since 2000. To manage this growth, the city’s Water and Sewer Board recently embarked on an $8.2 million project to construct the Southwest Regional Force Main. It is one of three projects being constructed simultaneously by the city to increase capacity and meet demand. The other two projects involve construction of the 20-million gallon per day (MGD) Southwest Regional Pumping Station and a new headworks or preliminary treatment building at the Sinking Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant. Once finished in summer 2015, the three projects will make the system complete.

The Southwest Force Main will transport wastewater from the pumping station to the treatment facility five miles away, and provide sewer services to almost 10,000 customer accounts in the growing southwestern and southeastern portions of Murfreesboro. The project is funded through the State Revolving Loan Program, which provides low-interest loans to help communities address their current and future infrastructure needs.

The geology of Murfreesboro is primarily limestone rock, which can make any type of underground construction project difficult. With this in mind, the pipe material selected for this project had to be strong and durable.

“A lot of what we deal with in Murfreesboro is rock. Plastic and rock don’t mix,” said Kevin Griffin, a senior project superintendent with Garney Companies, Inc., the contractor for the project. “Ductile iron pipe is much more durable for this rocky terrain.”

“A lot of what we deal with in Murfreesboro is rock. Plastic and rock don’t mix. Ductile iron pipe is much more durable for this rocky terrain.”
Kevin Griffin, senior project superintendent with Garney Companies, Inc.

According to Valerie Smith, assistant director of the Murfreesboro Water & Sewer Department, the city has always used ductile iron pipe for large diameter force mains. “The requirement is in our state-approved standard specifications for force mains larger than 6 inches,” said Smith. “With all the different installation conditions on this project – construction through a landfill, a river crossing, long bore and jack crossings – we felt ductile iron pipe presented the best solution for the entire project.”

Key Players: Murfreesboro Water and Sewer serves more than 96,000 people using over 400 miles of water lines. It also provides wastewater collection and treatment to a population of 140,000 using more than 600 miles of lines.

The engineering consultant on this project was Smith Seckman Reid, Inc., in Nashville, Tennessee; project engineer was Frank Smith, P.E. Contractor was Garney Companies, Inc., also of Nashville; senior project superintendent was Kevin Griffin.

What They Used: Being installed on the project are 25,000 feet of 36-inch AMERICAN Flex-Ring ductile iron pipe and five 36-inch AMERICAN Flow Control resilient wedge gate valves with Flex-Ring ends.

What They Said: “There was a Phase 1 to this project that had to be installed within a short window of time,” said Smith. “AMERICAN was able to provide us with 1,420 linear feet of 36-inch pipe within 15 days of the signed contract. This phase was installed by our Operation and Maintenance Department, but it could not have been accomplished had AMERICAN not been able to provide the pipe. AMERICAN employees were also helpful during the design phase as we worked through the restrained joint requirements of the project.”

“We have a very long relationship with AMERICAN. I’ve worked in the industry 25 years and the quality product you get from AMERICAN is top ranked and made in America,” said Griffin. “We’ve always found AMERICAN very responsive. It’s important to me in the field to get the job done.”