Emergency sewer replacement required for local restaurant on the corner of Bedford Ave and Myrtle Ave. in Brooklyn. Harris Water Main & Sewer Contractors were called to the site as the tenants of a building containing 4 apartments and a restaurant were left without usage of their water, due to a large break in the sewer line.
The building had experienced sporadic sewer line back-ups over the prior months which were now becoming more severe, ultimately turning into the need for an emergency sewer line replacement. Harris received a call from a frantic couple who was in the midst of vacationing as they were made aware that the sewer line of their building had completely failed. After 5 hours and several quotes that the building owner had received, they elected Harris to install a new sewer line at their building on Bedford Ave. Harris was able to process all of the necessary documentation with the homeowner via email, obtained all of the necessary permits with the city and scheduled DEP inspection for the sewer replacement to begin the following day. The sewer line replacement was extremely time sensitive for both the restaurant owner and the families who occupied the 4 apartments.
Upon obtaining all of the necessary permits and calling in for NYC 811 utility mark outs, Harris was made aware of two factors that would force them to pay extra attention to detail upon the planning and excavation stages of the installation. Harris would be working around several utilities including a high powered gas main forcing the onsite crew to work by hand anytime they were within 3’ of the main. One wrong move could leave thousands of people without gas, electric etc. The second factor was the highway permit being issued with restricted hours forcing Harris to be off of the roadway by 4pm, we now had to calculate for each move that was made if we wanted to complete the sewer installation within the estimated time frame.
Harris began the job by excavating the sidewalk, digging down 8’ and replacing the existing clay pipe from the house trap on the inside of the basement to the curb line, with 6” extra heavy cast iron pipe. The sidewalk replacement was completed all within one day as we had yet to work around any of the utilities mentioned above.
The second day of excavation began in the street where we had to follow a very detailed plan, we were working on a timeline to get the tenants back in their apartment while working around the high powered gas main. Due to the severity of working around the gas main, National Grid (electric & gas distribution company) had an inspector onsite for the entire length of the project. They set several special precautionary requirements such as special padding and shoring to protect the gas main and the residents in the surrounding area.
Some additional circumstantial requirements for this particular job was having flagmen onsite for each day Harris was working in the roadway as Bedford Ave. is a heavily traveled street. Harris was required to have special safety signs such as bike lane and sidewalk closed signs while the excavation was taking place and a special back-fill test was to be completed as Bedford Ave. is a street that has been paved over within the prior five years.
The onsite crew and foreman worked diligently for four total days until the job was successfully completed. The sidewalk and the roadway were both permanently restored the day after the piping was completed and the building owner was able to enjoy the remaining three days of their vacation knowing that Harris Water Main & Sewer had successfully satisfied all of their needs.
