Christmas Eve 2016 was one that homeowners on Eberlein Drive in Fraser and nearby business owners will never forget. That's when a sewer collapse on 15 Mile Road caused a sinkhole that forced the evacuation of 23 homes on that street, including three that were condemned of which two were later demolished.
On the fourth anniversary of that local holiday nightmare, construction is underway on a two-year, $28 million project to the west which will prevent another infrastructure disaster from occurring in that stretch of the Macomb Interceptor sanitary sewer.
A construction firm is digging a 65-foot-deep shaft in the ITC Corridor, west of Schoenherr Road in Sterling Heights, to reach the massive sewer that carries the waste flushed by more than 500,000 people from nearly a dozen communities in Macomb County.
That section of the Interceptor, west of the location of the 2016 sinkhole, is also known as Segment 5. It's the last major stretch of unreinforced, large diameter concrete pipe on 15 Mile that needs to be lined. The project is expected to be completed in mid-2022. Little traffic disruption is expected.
The 11-foot diameter tunnel will be lined with glass fiber reinforced polymer pipe for 7,000 lineal feet. Then heading east from there, 1,300 lineal feet of 8-foot diameter pipe will be spray-lined with a geopolymer coating.
The 2016 sinkhole – approximately the size of a football field -- along the Fraser-Clinton Township border occurred just eight days before Macomb County Public Works Commissioner Candice S. Miller took office.
"I promised we're never going to have another sinkhole in the Interceptor," Miller said while monitoring the construction progress in person in recent days. "This is a very important project. It's such a critically important part of our infrastructure here in Macomb County and the region."
Miller said it's vital to not ignore infrastructure but to invest in it in order to prevent collapses which not only can turn the lives of nearby property owners and businesses upside down -- but also be costly to all utility rate-payers.
"'Out of sight and out of mind' cannot be the way we look at our infrastructure," said the commissioner, adding that a contract was recently awarded for the largest sewer inspection program in county history. "Just like when you build a house, you've got to maintain it."
"Making sure this part of the Interceptor is secure could even be more important than what we repaired in 2017 because Segment 5 runs under the ITC corridor where all these transmission towers are, and it runs under the Red Run Drain," Miller said.
The $28 million project will not result in higher sewer rates to system users. It is being paid for in part with a $12.5 million lawsuit settlement paid in November to Macomb County, after the Macomb Interceptor Drain Drainage District board chaired by Miller sued three contractors whose mistakes while working in the Oakland-Macomb Interceptor sewer to the west caused conditions that eventually led to the 2016 sinkhole.
Approximately $6 million of the Segment 5 project is being paid from reserves. The remainder is financed via bonds with payments spread over a period of 20 years.
In addition to Fraser, Clinton Township and Sterling Heights, the 11 communities served by the Macomb Interceptor include: Utica, New Haven and Chesterfield, Harrison, Macomb, Lenox, Shelby and Washington townships.
"We know that Christmas Eve will always carry some horrible memories for the residents who live on Eberlein. The Macomb County Public Works Office is continually striving to ensure that nightmare doesn't become reality for anyone relying on the wastewater systems under our jurisdiction," Miller said.
