Medina County ranks as one of the fastest growing counties in Ohio. Between 1990 and 2000, the county grew by 21.7 percent, the largest increase in the state. Correspondingly, over the same period the number of households increased by 24.2 percent. Over the next five years the county expects the population to increase by 9.7 percent. To accommodate this growth, the city of Medina and Medina County have contracted with the Municipal Utilities of Avon Lake, Ohio, to supply all their future water needs.
The Avon Lake Municipal Utilities is one of the largest water suppliers in Northern Ohio, supplying water to the cities of Sheffield Lake, Sheffield Village, Avon and North Ridgeville. They also provide water for the Rural Lorain County Water Authority (RLCWA). This water consortium covers more than 550 sq. mi. (1,295 sq km) of area.
Eastern Transmission Line 2 (ETL2) is 24 mi. (39 km) in length and is the second wholesale pipeline built to supply water to the water consortium. Once ETL2 is operational it will provide 10.34 million gallons per day (gpd) (39.1 million liters per day [Lpd]) to the city of Medina and eventually allow them to shut down its existing lower capacity water plant. It also will provide 8.22 million gpd (31.1 million Lpd) to Medina County, 7.22 million gpd (27.3 million Lpd) to RLCWA and 5.2 million gpd (19.8 million Lpd) to North Ridgeville.
The bid for construction and pipe supply was let on May 25, 2000, for a total cost of $16.7 million. BRW Engineers of Lexington, KY, provided design engineering. The bid was divided between actual installation, pipe supply, pumping station construction and water tower construction. The proceed date was June 29, 2000.
The pipe supply was contracted with Price Brothers of Dayton, OH, at a cost of $7.7 million. According to John Kniepper, director of the Avon Lake Utilities Department, contracting directly with Price Brothers provided savings by reducing markup costs and by paying the supplier promptly.
Two types of pipe were supplied for the ETL2 project: ductile iron and pre-stressed concrete. The pre-stressed concrete pipe is a welded steel core covered both inside and outside with concrete to reduce corrosion. Pipe size ranges from 24 to 42 in. (61 to 107 cm) in diameter.
Mosser Construction of Fremont, OH, is constructing two pumping stations, one in Avon Lake, and the other in Eaton Township in Lorain County. Doug Giesler is the project manager for Mosser.
When operational, initial demand will be 3 million gpd (11.3 million Lpd) through the 42-in. (107 cm) pipe, with capacity rated at 15 million gpd (56.7 million Lpd). Final capacity will be 31 million gpd (114 million Lpd). The pumping stations will be able to accommodate three additional pipes. The stations will be powered by two separate 33,000 volt feeds, provided by First Energy Corporation of Cleveland.
Phoenix Fabricators of Avon, IN, are constructing two 5 million gal. (19 million L) ground level storage tanks, at a cost of $1.9-million, near Litchfield, OH. The tank structure is provided by Pittsburgh-Des Moines Corporation, of Pittsburgh, PA. Bobby Mann is project manager for Phoenix Fabricators.
Reynolds Construction Inc., of Middletown, OH, and Excavation Technologies of Petersburg, OH, are performing pipe installation. Ben Drake is the project manager for Reynolds, and Dave Sugar is the manager for Excavation Technologies.
Normal trench depth ranged from 4.5 to 10 ft. (1.37 to 3.1 m), but both contractors encountered special challenges in completing their portions of the contract.
To cross I-90, Reynolds Construction had to bore 406 ft. (124 m) utilizing 54-in. (137 cm) steel casing. Forty-two inch (107 cm) pipe was used at this crossing.
The pipeline right-of-way runs adjacent wetlands and under French Creek. The Corp of Engineers insisted that all water flow be maintained in the stream while the pipe was being positioned. To accomplish this Reynolds placed two 36-in. (91.4 cm) steel pipes in the creek, bulkheading the sides to insure flow at all times. A ram hoe was used to remove rock below the creek bed.
Excavation Technologies encountered numerous large traffic and rail arteries that required boring to cross. The Ohio Turnpike bore was 185 ft. (56 m) in length. Crossing the Norfolk Southern rail right-of-way required a 100-ft. (31 m) bore and the largest crossing was the I-480 bore which was 335 ft. (102 m) in length.
Additionally, Excavation Technologies encountered narrow 13-ft. (4 m) work areas where the pipeline right-of-way crossed county roads. In all cases, at least one-lane traffic was maintained on these roads at all times.
The project was completed in June. According to Kniepper once the construction was finished the entire line will be pressure tested and then disinfected. The pump stations also will undergo the same process. When operational the line will supply the future needs of Ohio for the next 10 years.
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