This particular project is among the largest water main projects in all of Indiana right now. In order to make things easier for everyone involved in the project administration and construction the entire project has been broken down into four parts.
The first part (Contract A) deals with the well field and treatment facility. The plan is to have the plant and wells up and running by sometime early next summer or spring. Here is the view from earlier today.
This picture shows the two underground water tanks that were poured over the last few days. The things that look similar to ladders are the metal forms used to hold the wet concrete in place. Now that it has cured and hardened they are in the process of being removed, leaving behind the neatly formed tanks.
The next two portions of the project are for the instillation of the water main pipe itself. There are approximately 24 miles of pipe that will need to be installed over the next year and a half. The north west part of DeMotte makes up Contract B1, and all other areas are included in Contract B. As of today the workers are finishing up on County Road 700W (also known as Orchid Street within the Town limits) and at the same time making their way west along Division Street. Here is a picture taken on Division St just west of Town Hall from earlier this morning.
The picture shows one of the workers standing inside a tranch box. The box is the workers' best friend. Its purpose is to keep the sides of the trench supported so that the workers can work underground without fear of the walls caving in a burying them. The pipe is buried five feet below the surface and varies in size. The main from the well field to the tower is ten inches in diameter, as it gets further from the tower it tapers to eight inches and even further yet it reaches its minimum diameter of six inches.
Another interesting part of these two contracts is the instillation of the fire hydrants. This picture shows one that has been installed on County Road 700W, a bit south of the well field.
The hydrants will all look the same, and they will be set back from the road along the right of way limits. Along most roads this is twenty feet or so, but it does vary considerably depending on the particular road. They are spaced approximately 500 feet apart so that firefighters will always be able to connect to one close enough to a building. The hydrants do look a bit different from ones you may have seen in surrounding communities. The ones being installed on this project have a special connection to allow fire fighters to connect their hoses quicker than a typical hydrant. The hydrants will not be active until they are supplied with water from the wells about a year from now. Once they are active residents should be sure to contact their homeowners insurance agents because nearly all policies will provide a discount for being in range of a fire hydrant.
The final portion of the project is the water tower (Contract C). The water tower will hold 500,000 gallons of clean freshwater. It will be located just southeast of Spencer Park. The design has a single stem with a large closed 'bowl' on top. Its technical name is a "pedesphere" (think of pedestal and sphere) but some people refer to it more simply as a huge golf ball on a tee. The water in the tower will be 160 feet above the ground at its highest. The foundation for the tower is approximately six feet deep and sixty feet in diameter. It has been finished for a few weeks now. Currently the tower fabrication crew is working on welding all the pieces of the steel puzzle into their correct places. The bottom cone section of the tank is in place and the stem sections are being assembled on the ground. Here's a picture taken earlier today showing their progress so far.
Thank you again for stopping by to learn more about this exciting project. In the coming days a rough schedule for the different contracts will be posted so be sure to come back soon!
will do!
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