Carteret, NJ – Mayor Dan Reiman has announced that Carteret is underway on a $2,237,515 capital improvement project to upgrade and install a new sanitary sewer line connection between West Carteret and Carteret proper.
The construction employs the use of a sophisticated micro-tunneling boring machine (MTBM) and technology to install a new 51” diameter steel casing pipe under the New Jersey Turnpike. A 30” diameter sanitary sewage pipeline will then be installed within the casing pipe to provide a new interceptor sewer to serve industrial, commercial, and residential users in West Carteret.
The micro-tunneling stage of the project, being performed across the N.J. Turnpike, began in early February according to Borough engineers. The total length of the boring is approximately 700 linear feet.
The project has been partially funded through a low interest loan provided through the N.J. Department of Environmental Protection’s environmental infrastructure trust fund (EIT). The NJDEP EIT Program provides funding for various sanitary sewer, potable water, and stormwater improvements projects throughout the state. This project marks the first time the Borough has participated in the program.
The sanitary sewer upgrade will provide a new interceptor sewer to serve West Carteret and will allow the Borough to supplement an existing 24-inch sanitary sewer line which is believed to have been constructed at the same time as the Turnpike, during the 1950’s, and is the only link to the Central Carteret sanitary sewer system. The new interceptor sewer will ensure long-term reliable service through a critical link in the Borough’s sewer system and serve West Carteret residents for many years.
The project posed many challenges to the Borough’s project team of engineers and environmental specialists, including construction of the new service lines across active Conrail rail lines, Colonial Pipeline & Buckeye Pipeline regional petroleum supply lines, PSE&G facilities as well as the north and south bound lanes of the NJ Turnpike.
Plans include the construction of approximately 750 feet of a new parallel 30-inch sewer line and associated manholes and diversion structures to replace the existing line. The old existing line will remain in place to serve as a much needed and NJDEP supported backup line, and will be cleaned and repaired as necessary during the project work.
“This project is a necessary part of our capital plan to upgrade our sanitary sewer system throughout the Borough,” Mayor Reiman said. “Many of our recent improvements have been those employed unseen to the eye, beneath Carteret’s streets, involving upgrades to our sanitary and stormwater drainage systems, which affect our residents and businesses every day.”
