More Problems
As I stated on the last page, the
joint of
the plastic pipe to the catch basin at the wall was incorrectly done
and is leaking. The day I was there at the time of this first
photograph, there was no water going through
that
first section of pipe at all! They must have figured out there was a
problem when they saw water going into the wall catch basin but nothing
was coming
out of the pipe, so they did some more work trying to seal this. Here
is a
shot of the outside of the pipe junction that day. You can also
see
the
drain grate on top of this catch basin for ground water to enter the
system. This was the grate water shot out of when the old 36 inch metal
pipe was collapsed.
The next night I was called and
asked to
shoot some more pictures. It seems they couldn't get this joint to stop
leaking and had to then dig the top off the wall catch basin to attempt
further sealing efforts. This appears to have
created more problems, causing cracks in the back wall of the basin.
You
can also see how badly the concrete they smeared onto the pipe has
cracked,
even after several layers have been applied.
Even with all this extra effort
trying to
get
this joint to seal, it was still leaking outside of the pipe. I crawled
down between the
two female pipe ends, half way to the road and could easily see water
leaking between the ground and the pipe. This will cause this system to
fail if it isn't fixed. Below is a shot pointing to the gap where I
could see
the water flowing out, which is a good 60-80 feet downstream from
the
leaking joint at the catch basin. It's hard to see in a photograph but
I'd swear under
oath it's
leaking where the arrow is pointing. If they manage to get these female
pipe ends
sealed together at this center catch basin, the water would then leak
under the whole pipe system,
under the road and end up creating multiple sink holes in the future.
Of course
they will probably have no more luck sealing this up and as more water
flows though these problem joints, it will just erode under the pipe
and the road even faster.
These shots were taken a few days
before DeKalb county came down and threatened to arrest Tom Hart,
Doraville councilman from district 2, for keeping an eye on
this project (whistle blower?). And now a few people, who are ignorant
of all the problems
that
have been created and how bad the construction is being done, are now
trying
to make Tom
out to be "The bad guy". I guess if the county can keep people
off the job site and cover up all their mistakes with dirt, they can
get
away with this sort of work? The big issue is: It will be a few years
before any noticeable problems arise and trying to get this repaired
under
warranty (for free) isn't likely to happen.
Now that this project can't be inspected by anyone other than the people doing the work (for fear of being arrested), we have no idea if any of these observed problems have been fixed. I highly doubt that they will be. It really bothers me that the inspection of a government project is being blocked and that anyone looking at what is being done is threatened with arrest. It's obvious to me the people doing this work are incompetent and need to be stopped before doing this sort of work in the future.
I just hope we learn something from all of this and don't make this same mistake over and over and over. I also think those in charge of these storm water projects for the city aren't doing their jobs and that they are turning a blind eye to all of the problems shown here. Either they don't understand any of this or just don't care. Neither incompetence nor carelessness can be tolerated in such an enormous project as this. Clearly, we need people who can deal with this sort of thing so we don't continue to waste hundreds of thousands of dollars like we have here.
Now that this project can't be inspected by anyone other than the people doing the work (for fear of being arrested), we have no idea if any of these observed problems have been fixed. I highly doubt that they will be. It really bothers me that the inspection of a government project is being blocked and that anyone looking at what is being done is threatened with arrest. It's obvious to me the people doing this work are incompetent and need to be stopped before doing this sort of work in the future.
I just hope we learn something from all of this and don't make this same mistake over and over and over. I also think those in charge of these storm water projects for the city aren't doing their jobs and that they are turning a blind eye to all of the problems shown here. Either they don't understand any of this or just don't care. Neither incompetence nor carelessness can be tolerated in such an enormous project as this. Clearly, we need people who can deal with this sort of thing so we don't continue to waste hundreds of thousands of dollars like we have here.