ALEXANDRIA, Va. — The city will hold a pre-construction open house next week on the Del Ray East sanitary sewer rehabilitation project, where staff will answer questions about the work and the schedule.
The open house runs from 6 to 7:45 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 29, in the auditorium at Mount Vernon Community School.
The project is the first of three phases rehabilitating sewer infrastructure serving parts of Rosemont, Del Ray, North Potomac Yard, Arlandria and North Ridge. It is budgeted at $5.27 million for pipe and manhole rehabilitation and $4.08 million for lateral renewal.
What inspections found
The city inspected the system east of Commonwealth Avenue, in the Four Mile Run and Commonwealth sewersheds, finishing in December 2021. Crews looked at 644 pipes covering 21 miles of sewer, 580 manholes and 2,611 laterals.
About 23% of the pipes, 150 of them, need rehabilitation, along with 111 manholes and 491 laterals, or about 19% in each case.
The work is part of the city's Sanitary Sewer Asset Renewal Program, which targets infiltration and inflow — groundwater and stormwater seeping into the sanitary system through cracks, failed joints and faulty manhole frames. Reducing it lessens the frequency and severity of sewer overflows and backups into homes and businesses.
Pipes will be repaired with an ultraviolet cured-in-place lining, which forms a new pipe inside the old one without digging it up. Manhole work varies by location and may include replacing frames and covers, spray-on lining and repairs to the bench and channel. AM-Liner East is the contractor, with Greeley and Hansen providing engineering and construction management.
What residents should expect
General construction runs 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. weekdays and 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturdays. On Commonwealth and Mount Vernon avenues, East Glebe Road and East Monroe Street, work is limited to 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. weekdays and 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturdays.
No-parking signs go up 72 hours ahead of work. The city and AM-Liner East will send two notices, in English and Spanish, to residents and businesses within 350 feet of construction — one 14 days out, another 48 hours out.
Sewers have to be dry for the lining to cure, so water use will be suspended during the process, typically for about six hours depending on the pipe. The city advises pouring a little water into any drain traps that may have dried out, such as a basement floor drain, to keep odors from coming up during lining.
For disability accommodations, contact Ayoub Hassen at ayoub.hassen@alexandriava.gov or 703-746-4635, Virginia Relay 711. Free interpretation and translation services are available at languageaccess@alexandriava.gov or 703-746-3960.
