In early October 2019, the City of Fairlawn, Ohio, had to close the intersection of Sand Run Parkway and Merz Boulevard in order to address an emergency storm sewer repair project. To meet these infrastructure needs promptly and efficiently, the city determined that the replacement and rerouting of a large diameter storm sewer through a commercial area was needed.
The City decided that a large-diameter, durable, smooth, and cost-efficient pipe with the ability to handle approximately 10' to 12' of cover would be required. Additionally, there were changes to the location of another water line and other utilities, including two fiber optic lines. The storm sewer replacement must also be able to easily adapt to these bends and alignment changes.
Based on their assessment of the project site requirements, the City felt that Contech's Smooth Cor™ double-wall pipe would be suitable. Thus, they decided to specify Smooth Cor for the project. Smooth Cor double-wall pipe is manufactured with a hydraulically smooth steel liner coated and corrugated exterior shell both applied with a polymer coating – making it one of the best solutions in difficult situations such as weak soils, poor subsurface drainage condition or, as in this case, high fills.
As the replacement and changes to the site were somewhat complicated and timing was essential, it was imperative that the installation go as smoothly and as quickly as possible to minimize the disruption to the surrounding community. Contech continued in their efforts to aid in the project by providing durability tables to the City to ensure that the Smooth Cor system would meet their project requirements in the best possible manner. Contech also set up a pre-construction meeting with the contractor on the proper handling and installation requirements for the new storm sewer system. Contech representatives then visited the site several times in order to address any questions during the installation process.
As the alignment of the fittings was critical for the success of the project, Contech fabricated custom fittings for the installation. These were crucial to the success of the project. Additionally, the project contractor, Cavanaugh Building Corp., requested the Smooth Cor™ be manufactured in 16' lengths due to the length of the trench box. These eased the installation considerably. The project was completed successfully, on-time and on budget.
Robert Snyder, P.E., from Cavanaugh Building, commented, "The Sand Run Storm Sewer Parkway project required an 84” diameter pipe that could meet tight hydraulic flow requirements and yet was cost effective to install. Contech’s Smooth Cor pipe met these requirements and was chosen for this challenging and high visibility project. Contech quickly supplied project specific design drawings and were able to fabricate the designed pipe with specialty fittings with very little lead time. The expedited design and fabrication lead to successful project which will provide decades of service for the City of Fairlawn."
Cavanaugh Building was pleased with the level of detail and fabrication of the Smooth Cor pipe which also helped to minimize the overall labor and equipment costs.