In May of 2004, heavy rains caused the Grand River to reach flood stage elevations which had not been seen in over 40 years. As a result, about a mile of streets in the City of Grandville between I-96 and the CSX Railroad were under water. Additionally, about 1,800 feet of sanitary trunk sewer and associated manholes were under water. This caused record flows at the Grandville Wastewater Treatment Plant, which were not capable of being fully treated.

The City of Grandville hired Moore & Bruggink, Inc. to study the trunk sewer flooding and design remedial measures to reduce and eliminate the inflow. Moore & Bruggink designed a project to raise area manholes along the Grand River and Buck Creek and to replace castings and seal joints in additional manholes in the streets. Moore & Bruggink specified the use of a specialized sealing product which is an exterior polypropylene shrink wrap material that seals joints between manholes and castings and at precast manhole joints as well.

This is the first time this product has been used in West Michigan. It is contractor-friendly and dramatically reduces inflow in flood prone areas. This is another example of Moore & Bruggink's innovative designs to meet our clients' needs.

Contact John Racek, P.E., for more details on design and specified product.