Annie Lovell
January 28, 2008January 30
January 30, 2008The final surveys are in and the city of Thibodaux will begin one of its biggest sewer line repositioning projects ever.
The project is being funded through the city of Thibodaux and the state of Louisiana’s capital outlay project.
The state’s Facility Planning Office allotted $715,600 to the city of Thibodaux to remove the sewer line from underneath the state highway property and place it within the right of way of the paved road that runs from Oakley Street to Talbot Avenue (La. 3107) and Canal Boulevard (La. 20).
“The sewer line is a problem. We’ve had numerous problems repairing the line. We’ve found that it is impossible to work on the line without destroying the highway,” said city Public Works Director Kermit Kramer.
Thibodaux has hired Piccola & Associates to be the design engineers and Magnolia Construction Company to be the contractors for the Talbot Avenue sewer line project.
Kramer said repositioning the line will move it out of the traffic lanes and elevate it to a more workable area, if need be. The relocation of the line will include replacing the main sewerage line and all of the service connections to residents and businesses in the area, Kramer said.
The completion date for the project is mid-year.
“This project is one of the worst ones,” Kramer said. “We will continue replacing sewer lines throughout the city as part of the sewer improvement program and the sewer maintenance program.”
“This just happens to be a very large project which involved a lot of traffic,” Mayor Charles Caillouet added.
Much of the Talbot Avenue work is being done off the road, but the equipment and material can possibly come close to parts of one of the lanes on Talbot Avenue. Residents and businesses will be contacted so they can make other arrangements.
The mayor apologized for the inconvenience the project may cause. He said the residences and businesses in the area that have any problems or questions should contact the Thibodaux Public Works Department at (985) 446-7223.
The sewer repositioning will not affect parades in the Thibodaux area, Kramer said.
Previously, the city installed sewer line cameras to tape the interior of the sewer line. Kramer said the findings were charted for the city.
“We never had access to this kind of surveillance before and I think it is a good addition to the parish maintenance system,” Kramer said. “It’s been an ongoing process in the parish and we will continue to do this as long as the money is allotted.”
Other sewer line replacements include the Goode Street project and a portion of Ridgefield Avenue on the north side of Thibodaux, which runs under Bayou Lafourche. Kramer said the price of these projects wasn’t comparable to the Talbot Avenue project.
