East Cobb Pipeline Project Q&A:
Q: What is the project and why is it needed?
A: Replacing 50-year-old water pipes along 6.1 miles of roadway. The 54-inch new pipe is roughly double the size of the old pipe and will make water delivery more reliable and efficient.
Q: How much will it cost and who is paying?
A: $42 million and the project is being funded by revenue from water sales. No tax funds are being used.
Q: Is the pipeline being built because of SunTrust Park?
A: No. Planning for the project started in 2000.
Q: When will crews be working?
A: The typical work schedule will be Monday through Friday, 7 a.m. until 6 p.m. Barricades will remain in place during non-work hours.
Q: Why is the pipeline under roads?
A: Placing the pipeline under the road will create the least disturbance to private property and to other utilities.
Q: Where can I find more information?
A: The Cobb County-Marietta Water Authority will send out updates via Twitter: @waterCCMWA with a hashtag ECobbPipe. Information is also available at the authority’s www.ccmwa.org. There also is a project hotline 770-514-5301.
East Cobb drivers: Expect traffic delays — two years of them.
The massive job of replacing more than six miles of water pipe under East Cobb roadways will result in lane closures and localized traffic jams until the Cobb County-Marietta Water Authority completes the $42 million project in 2017. The first of the lane closures, on Terrell Mill Road, begins Sept. 19.
It's one of the largest projects in the authority's history — a once-in-a-generation job of replacing a smaller 50-year-old water pipe with a 54-inch line that weighs about 500 pounds per foot.
The larger pipe, about double the size of the line being replaced, will increase the amount of water the authority can deliver and allow its plants to pump water more efficiently, said George Kaffezakis, the authority’s director of engineering.
“We don’t want to do this more than once every 60 or 80 years,” Kaffezakis said. “The pipes are old, almost as old as me, and are nearing the end of their useful life. We want to be smart about how we replace it. We want to take into account future needs.”
The authority is second largest supplier of drinking water in the state, selling it wholesale to 10 utilities including the Cobb County and Marietta water systems. The project has been planned since 2000, and included in the authority’s capital improvement plan in 2011.
Cobb Commissioner Bob Ott, who represents the area, said traffic jams related to this project were the reason he asked the county to develop Cobb Commute, a website launched last month that gives drivers real-time information about congestion, travel speeds and road closures on the county’s arterial roads.
“Clearly it will have an impact and the indications are that it’s going to have a big impact” on traffic, Ott said. “It’s something that has to happen and there’s not a lot of options for how to put the pipe in the ground. The best way the county can deal with it is by keeping people informed.”
The project will happen in three phases. The first phase is largely along Terrell Mill Road, although a shorter section along Lower Roswell Road is also planned. The second phase, beginning in October, also tracks along Terrell Mill, from Powers Ferry Road to U.S. 41. The last phase will start next spring with most of the construction on Lower Roswell Road.
The pipe will be buried 14 feet deep, mostly under roadway.
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