MARQUETTE, Mich. (WZMQ) – Contractors for the Marquette City Works Department are connecting sewer pipes underneath Front and Crescent Streets to replace an outdated sewer system serving several homes in the area.
The current sewer system serving those houses is made of clay tile and is over a century old.
It also runs underneath people’s yards, deck, and garages, which Mikael Kilpela, an engineer for the City of Marquette, said could make dealing with a failure in the outdated pipe much harder in the future.
“If our sewer fails, we end up with sewer backups and that’s a bad situation,” said Kilpela. “It’s better to be proactive and address these problems before they become emergencies.”
Right now, the contractors are blasting through the bedrock underneath the street to make space for the new line.
According to the on-site foreman, Brock Smith, the bedrock in the area is a difficulty because it’s very hard and close to the surface, which Smith says is not uncommon in Marquette.
“I mean, it’s Marquette, the whole thing’s a rock,” said Smith. “Look at black rocks. Rocks are just unpredictable. We had rock like four inches below black top, so it’s all pretty close to the surface.”
The city plans to be finished blasting sometime next week, and have the road drivable sometime in late July.
