Central Iowa - February 2018
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In February of 2018, Seneca’s Waste Solution Services division was called to clean a storm drain at a food grade processing plant. Upon notification, Seneca crews showed up within 1.5 hours to jet the lines out. Originally, it was believed the line was simply plugged, but once crews began jetting the lines with Seneca’s high-pressure jetting truck, they noticed a sinkhole being created from the broken line.
It was discovered that the storm drain had collapsed due to deterioration over time and allowed wastewater to bypass the drain and enter the soils.
Seneca cut the concrete pad and soils were over-excavated to expose the broken storm drain.
The crews ran into a challenge when they discovered excess water caused by a tile line full of water, due to the tile line being put in incorrectly when it was originally installed. This resulted in the excavation hole flooding and caving in.
This problem was solved by bringing in a shoring box and placing it in the excavation hole for the safety of everyone working on-site. Seneca then utilized one of its frac tanks to hold the contaminated groundwater.
The contaminated groundwater was transported away for disposal in accordance with local, state and federal regulations. The contaminated soil was collected into seven 20-yard roll offs and hauled away for disposal as well.
Seneca then subcontracted a certified plumber to repair the broken storm drain. Once the drain line was repaired, Seneca backfilled the excavation with gravel and brought it up to grade, re-drilled for the rebar and capped excavation with concrete.
The duration of the project was three days, including the disposal of contaminated groundwater and soil. The customer was very pleased with the promptness of Seneca Waste Solutions and how quickly the project was taken care of.