Fairfield sewer project ahead of schedule

FAIRFIELD – A portion of Forest Drive on the east side of Fairfield is closed to through traffic and will remain closed until the early summer.

The north-south road, which is only two blocks long and goes past Forest Park, is closed north of the intersection with East Broadway Avenue because of sewer construction in the area. The city hired McClure Construction to perform a massive overhaul of the city's sewer mains on the east side of town, running from Lamson Woods in the southeast part of town to Maharishi International University on the north side. Fairfield City Engineer Melanie Carlson said the new sewer lines on Forest Drive will entail reconstructing the road this spring.

'We hope to wrap up the majority of [the new sewer installation] in June, with reseeding and cleaning happening at the end of May,” Carlson said.

Carlson said the city is already using some of the new sewer line installed as part of this project, known as Step II. Step I referred to replacing sewer line from Lamson Woods to the sewer treatment facility south of town. Carlson said Step II is ahead of schedule, since it was expected to finish in the latter part of the summer instead of the early part.

One way the public may notice a difference after all the new pipes are installed is that it should drastically reduce the frequency of sanitary sewer overflows, where the city has no choice but to send untreated sewage (diluted by rainwater) into creeks during heavy rainfall. This can make some areas, such as the Fairfield Loop Trail near Lamson Woods, smell like sewage. Carlson said the new pipes are large enough to accommodate 98 percent of storms in Iowa. Only the rarest variety, those dropping more than 5 inches of water an hour, will result in sewage overflows once Step II is done.

The next sewer upgrade on the horizon will be replacing the lift station near Jefferson County Park known as 'Greased Lightning.” Carlson explained that the sewer lines east of Highway 1, which roughly bisects Fairfield, flow downhill toward the treatment facility. The sewer lines west of Highway 1, in contrast, flow to the Greased Lightning lift station, where their contents are pumped to the treatment facility since it is not possible to use gravity for that purpose.

The Iowa Department of Natural Resources has given the city of Fairfield until the end of 2023 to abate its sewer overflows and thus to finish replacing Greased Lightning. Carlson said the city is requesting qualifications from engineering firms as it prepares to send the project out for bidding. Carlson said the city will apply for Community Development Block Grants, spending the spring of 2022 searching for funding and will probably not start construction on Step III until the summer or fall of 2022.