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10
Thursday
June 24, 2010
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NEWS: What’s Going on in Goochland County
Pipes
continued from > page 2
ting out of the utility business and people
started quitting, they couldn’t get 40 feet a
day in. It had nothing to do with the pipe,
it was about losing people who had been
trained to put it in.”
When asked whether the pipe had broken
on the bottom, which could indicate
contact with exposed rock, Sales declined
to comment until litigation with Amitech
is resolved.
A combination of two
factors?
Glasgow, who no longer works for U.S.
Composite Pipe South, says that Flowtite is
not an easy pipe to make or install.
“I have concerns about it,” said Glasgow.
“I’ve worked for four different pipe companies,
and seen a lot of different manufacturing
processes, and you have to be on
your toes when making Flowtite pipe. The
manufacturing process is really an amazing
process, but things can get out of tune very
easily and there’s a lot of different material-
polyester resin, sand, fiberglass- and
you’re essentially throwing all the materials
together to be wound. It’s a computercontrolled
operation, but it requires 2-3
people to monitor what’s going on in the
machine.”
“The major weakness is the pipe joint
itself,” he added. “I find that joint more difficult
for contractors to work with.”
According to a report, written by a representative
of Malcolm Pirnie, Inc. and
sent to the City of Orlando’s Public Works
Department, based on observations of a test
of a 48-inch pipe performed by Amitech at
their Louisiana plant in February of 2005,
leaks occurred that prompted Orlando to
remove Flowtite FRP pipe from its technical
specifications.
“These failures caused us to be alarmed
at… not only the use of the machined
groove joint but also the entire pipe product,”
wrote Steven J. Cook, Project Manager
for Malcolm Pirnie, to Abe Jardaneh, Project
Manager of the City of Orlando Public
Works Department, on March 7, 2005.
“The failure in the 48-inch apparatus
highlighted to us that Amitech USA is still
resolving all the issues with the restrained
joint pipe and joints,” added Cook.
R. Stuart Royer and Associates, who
served as an engineer on the 2004-2006
force main project, requested a copy of
those test results on March 30, 2005.
R. Stuart Royer and Associates was also
a defendant in Bryant Electric’s breach of
contract suit in 2006, and was acquired by
Malcolm Pirnie in 2008.
The test results were used by Bryant
Electric in 2005 to justify their case to
Goochland that the pipes were defective.
And the same test results are now being
used now by the county to verify their warranty
against Amitech.
“Amitech invited engineers to see a pressure
test, and ran a pressure test in front
of them and the pipe split,” said Glasgow.
“That’s not a very good way to sell a pipe.”
Paying for the pipes in
the TCSD
Goochland’s District 4 Supervisor
Malvern “Rudy” Butler said of the pipe
system in the TCSD, “Keep your fingers
crossed, I hope nothing happens to it.”
“I don’t know if there is enough money
in there or not to repair it,” added Butler.
“If installation was faulty, if they put it in
wrong, it’s hard to get the money—Bryant
Electric went out of business. And the people
who made the pipe are out of business.
I don’t know who would stand behind the
warranty.”
DuVal is also concerned about funding
any problems in the district.
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“The county hasn’t really set aside money
for any ongoing maintenance, for depreciation
for a lot of things,” said the public utilities
director. “What (County Administrator
Rebecca T. Dickson) is working on for her
latest budgets, the rates will be including
possible future funds for that.”
The Board of Supervisors voted last
April for an increased tax rate for Tuckahoe
Creek Service District customers, up from
23 cents per $100 of assessed value to 27
cents.
Dickson says that the county is trying
to catch up to future needs.
“As we developed the rates for (fiscal
year 2011), we included some funds for
repairs and maintenance,” she said this
week. “This amount is $85,000. While this
is a start, our goal would be to increase
this amount to a higher level over time.
If there were some kind of catastrophic
event (or) failure that led to a much greater
repair expense than what was budgeted,
that would have to be addressed from the
TCSD fund balance.”
Right now the county is trying to
encourage investment in, and raise funds
for, the TCSD.
One anticipated project is the West
Creek Medical Center, a 97-bed, $183 million
hospital on a 60-acre site at the West
Creek office park. This facility, planned by
HCA, would provide jobs and revenue for
the county.
And according to an interview with
HCA spokesperson Karen Nelson last May,
the hospital is on track to start building
this fall.
“I think it’s very important to get to the
bottom of this and see what kind of problem
we have so we can address it properly,”
said District 3 Supervisor Ned S. Creasey
of potential pipe issues in the TCSD. “I
think we’re trying to bring people into the
district, and there’s an urgency to get all
this resolved.”
Amitech invited engineers to see a pressure test, and ran a pressure test in
front of them and the pipe split. That’s not a very good way to sell a pipe.
— Former Regional Sales Manager for U.S. Composite South,
Kenneth L. Glasgow