4h Sewer Manhole Inspection Program Costa Mesa Sanitary District …an Independent Special District Protecting our community’s health and the environment by providing solid waste and sewer collection services. www.cmsdca.gov Memorandum To: Board of Directors From : Scott Carroll, General Manager Date: February 18, 2014 Subject: Sewer Manhole Inspection Program - Update Summary Recently, the District received claims from various drivers who suffered damages while driving over sewer manholes that were not flush with the street surface. In one instance, the manhole cover became dislodged and a driver’s wheel was damaged from hitting the manhole frame of the open manhole. The Board responded by directing the General Manager to undertake a manhole program where the surface conditions of the District’s 4,704 manholes were field checked, rated, a report prepared, and the manholes repaired as appropriate. This staff report is an update on those activities. Staff Recommendati on That the Board of Directo rs direct staff to bring this item back to the February 25, 2014 Board meeting for consideration of appropriating $100,000 from the Asset Management Fund. Analysis To date, the first half of the manholes (2,384) were field chec ked by Willdan Engineering and the ratings report was presented to staff. Using a scale of 1 to 5 similar to the ratings used for sewer line defects with 5 being indicative of imminent problems, the District has 102 Grade 5 manhole deficiencies to repair. Because the project was initiated after the current two -year budget was adopted, funds for this work need to be allocated. Considering there are also Grade 4 defects in the manholes surveyed by Willdan that will eventually become Grade 5 defects, plus th ere still
Board of Directors February 18, 2014 Page 2 of 3 is another half of the manholes to survey, it is appropriate to consider an ongoing manhole cover rehabilitation program. The approximate repair cost per manhole according to the report is $500 -$750 depending on traffic control and other field conditions. Fortunately, the District has replacement frames and covers in stock; otherwise, the cost for each repair would be approximately $500 higher. The incidence of manhole deterioration at the street surface level is another important indicator of the age of the District’s infrastructure. The District is celebrating its 70 th anniversary, and 70 years is a reasonable life expectancy period for the District’s sewer system. The necessity for the manhole surface -level rehabilitation program is a remin der of how important the asset management program is and how important an ongoing adequate revenue stream is for the future of the District. Revisiting the asset management program is always an appropriate action as the Board is aware that gravity sewer l ines, force mains, and pumping stations are currently being rehabilitated due to advanced age. The field review performed by Wildan Engineering & Associates consisted of a thorough ‘visual only’ assessment and did not include opening the manhole covers to check the underside or a check of the condition of the frame, nor did it include driving over the manhole to ascertain whether the cover sits properly in the frame so no rattling occurred. However, these additional assessments would have significantly inc reased the study costs and not necessarily given the District significantly more information to assess the manhole covers. To completely assess the condition and life expectancy of the frame and cover, the entire frame and cover needs to be removed and vi ewed and this will occur as part of the surface repair process. Staff anticipates all 102 manholes will need new frames and covers but this decision will be made during the repair work. From an ongoing basis, after the second half of the manholes are surv eyed, the District may be able to continue the program without a consultant preparing a report because the sewer cleaning program includes having District crews or a qualified sewer cleaning contractor open every manhole in the District once every two year s as part of the sewer cleaning program. At time of opening the manholes, a rating of the cover condition can be made and entered into the District’s computerized database. This manhole surface condition repair program does not include repairs or installin g coatings inside the manholes as those are usually accomplished by different contractors and require confined space entry. Those repairs are currently included in the capital improvement program. As noted above, the District’s sewer infrastructure is in its 70 th year and revisiting the asset management program is an appropriate step
Board of Directors February 18, 2014 Page 3 of 3 Strategic Plan Element & Goal This item complies with Strategic Plan Element 1.0, Sewer Infrastructure and Goal No. 1.4 System Wide Sewer Replacement and Repair Program. Lega l Review Not applicable at this time. Environmental Review Repairing and adjusting sewer manhole covers is categorically exempt under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) (Public Resources Code Section 21000 et. seq.) under Section 15301 Exist ing Facilities as “Class 1 consists of the … maintenance … of existing public or private structures”, as further described in Section (b) as “Existing facilities of both investor and publicly -owned utilities used to provide …. sewerage …” Financial Review The cost to perform the inspectio n services from Wildan Engineering was $28,692.50 . The budgeted amount for this project is $25,000, which is an overage of $3,692.50 . There are adequate funds in the budget to make up this difference. Staff estimates an additional $100,000 will be needed to complete repairing 102 manhole covers. This money is not budgeted and will need to be appropriated from the Asset Management Fund. Public Notice Process Copies of this report are on file and will be included with th e entire agenda packet for the February 18, 2014 Bo ard of Directors study session at District Headquarters and on District website. Alternative Actions 1. Refer the matter back to staff for additional information. Attachments A: CMSD Std. S -105