Page 21 - Jan-Feb 2020

several out-of-town solid waste and
beautification groups who may be
inspired to find their own “Charlie” to
help create and improve their similar
programs’ visibility.
Melnik said so far, Charlie’s been
good-natured about the sudden “fame,”
adding that he’s a leader who has greatly
improved the facility with a staff that’s
“a well-oiled machine.”
“This facility gets a lot of great
compliments from the city. People love
it and it’s all because of Charlie. I can’t Construction Inspection/Administration
think of anyone better to help brand
this mobile program,” she said, adding
that he’s already a familiar face to those
who visit the HHW site. “And his team
has gotten a good chuckle out of the
whole thing,” she said, noting there’s
been a multitude of jokes made by his
co-workers.
So, what’s been Charlie’s reaction to
his sudden “celebrity”? How do you feel
when you’ve been branded as “the face
of waste” or “the king of trash” by your
co-workers, who predict next they’ll see
Charlie’s mug at the post office or on
milk cartons?
“I had no idea,” Charlie said,
laughing. “You’re just never ready to see
yourself on the side of a truck.”
The Big Dig from page 19
roadways (I-24 East being the other) into
Chattanooga from the west. The detour
required the temporary re-timing of a traf-
fic signal and the addition of a turn lane to
re-route traffic around the closed portion
of Broad Street while maintaining access
to local businesses. The traffic control plan
required that the closure be performed in
a window of time that allowed the road-
way to be closed while school was out for
summer break, to avoid school traffic and
major events in May and September.
Civic and S&ME (Team) served as the
City’s representative for the duration of
the project, assuring that the project was
constructed to the plans/specifications and
that the Soil and Groundwater Manage-
ment Plan were executed effectively. The
team’s work with the City (addressing issues
as they were encountered) ultimately helped
the project to be constructed within budget.
Scheduling
The schedule was divided into four phas-
es with the first three phases having critical and abandoned and sealed the existing,
path schedules to assure that the closures of
St. Elmo Avenue and Broad Street occurred
during the time windows allotted to meet
the commitments made to the public and
minimize road closure times (all 3 phases
were completed on-time).
Phase 4 included the two railroad
tunnels and had no impact to traffic or
businesses. Phase 4 also had a proposed
tie-in to an existing concrete box culvert
that could not be located during the design
phase due to the depth and proximity to
the railroad.
When the contractor excavated to locate
the existing culvert, it was unable to be
located. The project schedule was paused
while additional exploratory work was per-
formed. The plans were modified and the
final phase of the project was completed.
The Result
The construction of the storm infrastruc-
ture was completed in July 2018, approxi-
mately 20 months after groundbreaking,
with a cost of $15,000,000. The project
significantly increased the storm capacity
to accommodate over 1,900 CFS for a 100-
year storm event, provided strategically
placed structures for future expansion,
structurally deficient corrugated metal pipe
under the Wheland Foundry Landfill to
permanently protect the rivers and streams
in the area from the landfill’s waste.
View online at tnpublicworks.com 21