THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, April 7, 1996 TAG: 9604050194
SECTION: PORTSMOUTH CURRENTS PAGE: 09 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: COMMUNITY NEWS
DATELINE: PORTSMOUTH LENGTH: Short : 34 lines
Restructuring of a sewer suction well at Crawford and Columbia streets is behind the major downtown detour around the entrance to City Hall and the jail and courts buildings - and reducing traffic to one lane in a three-block area.
Public Utilities Director Jim Spacek said the work should be finished by next weekend ``unless we run into problems.''
The suction well dates to the 1920s and is part of the city's old vacuum-type sewer system, one of three in the nation. The others are in Norfolk and New Orleans.
``It's a very economical system and ideal for any place with a high water table,'' Spacek said. All three systems were designed by the same engineer.
In lieu of a pumping station, the sewer gravity line flows into a well, and a vacuum conveys the sewage to a pumping station at another location.
``Sometimes the sewer line gets clogged and we have to go in and clean it out,'' Spacek said. In addition to cleaning the well near the jail and City Hall, city crews are putting in a bypass and a hatch to give cleaning crews easier access.
Spacek said his department is systematically working on each of 26 vacuum sewer wells and lines. The crews will be working near the new I.C. Norcom High School in the summer and near the Naval Hospital in the fall, he said. by CNB