Ironwood - February 8, 2010

The Gogebic-Iron Authority and Board held  its January meeting last week.  The regular February meeting will take place on its regularly scheduled date later this month.

The board/authority members discussed the needed repairs and/or replacement to an effluent pipe at the plant.

Last month emergency repairs had to be made to an effluent carrying pipe which had begun to leak. A combination of caustic chemicals and old age has taken their toll on the pipe and other sections of the facility. Of course this should be expected from an older sanitary wastewater facility. When the plant was built ordinary mild steel was used for the pipes. Anyone living in the U.P. knows what a little road salt can do to an automobile.
The board had emergency temporary repairs made last month. Those repairs were performed by KBK Services and cost the authority nearly ten thousand dollars.

The board requested the treatment plant manager Mark Bowman to request bids for a more permanent solution to that particular problem. Mark requested bids from several know sources. He stated the problem and requested bids for either a complete replacement of the damaged section or a by-pass of the damaged section.

Interestingly, a complete replacement was the less expensive of the two alternatives. This was unexpected by everyone. It is unquestionably the best way to repair the section, which also includes several valve mechanisms.