Installing 23 Miles of Pipe on a Deadline
June 9: The afternoon was typical for southeastern Georgia on an early-June day. It was sunny, hot, and humid, and thunderstorms rolled across the 200 sandy acres right at 2:30, just as they did almost every day. The rain was enough to call off the crews. Fortunately, all the storm pipe installations that day were already completed and sealed, keeping the system clean and ready to go the next day.
When McClendon Enterprises of Vidalia, GA, was awarded the contract for site development for a major privatized on-base housing project at Fort Stewart, GA, the company knew that time was a critical factor. The company also knew that it had to do things right the first time for its prime contractor, Centex Construction Southeast
 |
Photo: Press-Seal Gasket Corporation |
| Liberty Woods—200 acres of infrastructure on a short schedule |
The Liberty Woods Housing Project covered more than 200 acres and required a half-million yards of dirt to be moved. McClendon did all the site preparation including installing water lines, sanitary sewers, and storm sewers. The density of the development—260 buildings with three to four housing units in each—meant that more than 23 miles of piping and almost 1,000 precast structures needed to be sited and installed. With a project completion date of December 2004 for all three phases of the project, any delays in the site work would ripple through the whole schedule.
McClendon Enterprises specified and purchased all of the precast structures on the job from Mega Cast in Brookeville, GA. Precast stormwater structures are a big part of Mega Cast’s business. “We make everything to do with stormwater structures except for the pipe,” says Mega Cast President James “K.K.” Osbun. “And three-quarters of all the storm structures we make have flexible connectors in them.” Although flexible connectors are common in sanitary lines, they are now being employed much more widely in storm and drainage systems, too.
 Photo: Press-Seal Gasket Corporation |
| Rusty Williams, general superintendent, McClendon Entrprises |
 Photo: Press-Seal Gasket Corporation |
| Precast structures awaiting installation |
On the job site, Rusty Williams, McClendon Enterprises’ general superintendent, looks over the work once the rains have stopped. The standing water quickly drains into the sandy soil. There are some small areas of erosion around the pipe excavations, but the pipes were all sealed into the structures, and the structures and the system are clean and clear. “The connectors save us a bunch on time and help us get done quickly,” he notes. “We can set a structure and be gone in 30 minutes. Bricking in the pipes takes three times as long and then we have to wait to backfill until the next day.”
He continues, “We have to watch out when we use brick and mortar to make sure it gets done right. With flexible connectors, we get by with a smaller crew and we get rid of almost all the handwork.” Keeping on schedule is also a prime consideration. “The crews like the connectors because they get more done in a day and they can get back in quicker after a rain. They don’t have to worry about the boxes filling with mud every time it rains.”
The job has a full-time inspector who has become used to seeing flexible connectors. Although there are still a few brick-and-mortar connections in the system, both the crew and the inspector can concentrate on these and make sure that they do the best job possible. Having just a few of these to install and inspect lightens the load on both the crew and the inspector.
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Even after the rains in June, the project was well ahead of schedule, according to the site superintendent for Centex.
Although flexible connectors were not required by the prime contractor, they are a welcome upgrade to the system. “Flexible connectors have helped us a lot on this job,” comments Williams. “We’re going to keep using them on every storm or drainage job we do. We really can’t afford not to.”
March-April 2005
Installing 23 Miles of Pipe on a Deadline
June 9: The afternoon was typical for southeastern Georgia on an early-June day. It was sunny, hot, and humid, and thunderstorms rolled across the 200 sandy acres right at 2:30, just as they did almost every day. The rain was enough to call off the crews. Fortunately, all the storm pipe installations that day were already completed and sealed, keeping the system clean and ready to go the next day.When McClendon Enterprises of Vidalia, GA, was awarded the contract for site development for a major privatized on-base housing project at Fort Stewart, GA, the company knew that time was a critical factor. The company also knew that it had to do things right the first time for its prime contractor, Centex Construction Southeast
|
Photo: Press-Seal Gasket Corporation |
| Liberty Woods—200 acres of infrastructure on a short schedule |
The Liberty Woods Housing Project covered more than 200 acres and required a half-million yards of dirt to be moved. McClendon did all the site preparation including installing water lines, sanitary sewers, and storm sewers. The density of the development—260 buildings with three to four housing units in each—meant that more than 23 miles of piping and almost 1,000 precast structures needed to be sited and installed. With a project completion date of December 2004 for all three phases of the project, any delays in the site work would ripple through the whole schedule.
McClendon Enterprises specified and purchased all of the precast structures on the job from Mega Cast in Brookeville, GA. Precast stormwater structures are a big part of Mega Cast’s business. “We make everything to do with stormwater structures except for the pipe,” says Mega Cast President James “K.K.” Osbun. “And three-quarters of all the storm structures we make have flexible connectors in them.” Although flexible connectors are common in sanitary lines, they are now being employed much more widely in storm and drainage systems, too.
Photo: Press-Seal Gasket Corporation |
| Rusty Williams, general superintendent, McClendon Entrprises |
Photo: Press-Seal Gasket Corporation |
| Precast structures awaiting installation |
On the job site, Rusty Williams, McClendon Enterprises’ general superintendent, looks over the work once the rains have stopped. The standing water quickly drains into the sandy soil. There are some small areas of erosion around the pipe excavations, but the pipes were all sealed into the structures, and the structures and the system are clean and clear. “The connectors save us a bunch on time and help us get done quickly,” he notes. “We can set a structure and be gone in 30 minutes. Bricking in the pipes takes three times as long and then we have to wait to backfill until the next day.”
He continues, “We have to watch out when we use brick and mortar to make sure it gets done right. With flexible connectors, we get by with a smaller crew and we get rid of almost all the handwork.” Keeping on schedule is also a prime consideration. “The crews like the connectors because they get more done in a day and they can get back in quicker after a rain. They don’t have to worry about the boxes filling with mud every time it rains.”
The job has a full-time inspector who has become used to seeing flexible connectors. Although there are still a few brick-and-mortar connections in the system, both the crew and the inspector can concentrate on these and make sure that they do the best job possible. Having just a few of these to install and inspect lightens the load on both the crew and the inspector.
Even after the rains in June, the project was well ahead of schedule, according to the site superintendent for Centex.
Although flexible connectors were not required by the prime contractor, they are a welcome upgrade to the system. “Flexible connectors have helped us a lot on this job,” comments Williams. “We’re going to keep using them on every storm or drainage job we do. We really can’t afford not to.”