WPCNR Main Street Journal. By John F. Bailey. September 9, 2004: American Water Services, a private contractor from Voorhees, New Jersey, commissioned by Cappelli Enterprises and suggested by the Department of Public Works  began the process of lining the Main Street sewer Wednesday night by cleaning the length of the 18 inch pipe and recording a video of the interior condition of the sewer main. A crew of four persons blocked traffic on the rainswept evening completing their underworld exploration by 12:30 A.M. Thursday morning.

GATORCAM IS LOWERED INTO MAIN STREET SEWER OPPOSITE VINTAGE RESTAURANT WDNESDAY NIGHT. The Video Scoping of the Sewer was the preparatory step prior to beginning the lining process prescribed by Department of Public Works Commissioner Joseph Nicoletti to enable the Main Street Sewer to handle all the new effluent from the City Center apartment and condominiums.  Two weeks ago, Bruce Berg, Vice President of Cappelli Enterprises told WPCNR videoing the sewer would be the first step prior to going ahead with the lining procedure. Last night the video taping began. Photo by WPCNR News

SEWER PROPHYLAXSIS:  Roller Vac Truck Hose is deployed in the last section of Main Street Sewer, "prepping" the underground path of the GatorCam. Loose debris from the pipe is weighed and monitored and will be disposed of at an environmentally approved location WPCNR was told.  Photo by WPCNR News.

The process consisted of snaking a high velocity vacuum pipe into the sewer from a manhole opening to suck up floating solids and encrustations on the interior of the pipe. After each section of approximately 100 feet is cleaned, the Video Camera Probe was allowed to proceed in the pipe, examining the interior condition of the sewer main.

THE GATORCAM. Photo by WPCNR News

American Water Services personnel explained that the Video Camera Probe, (WPCNR dubs it the “GatorCam,”). It is  a thin, slinky like, alligator shaped device with one big glassy eye on its snout, similar to the devices used to explore shipwrecks. It sinks to the bottom of the pipeline deploys, rolls down the pipe on flatbed railway-like wheels.

I was told by the “effluentologist, ” dispatching the “GatorCam” that the device sinks  to the bottom of the pipe and is electronically instructed by cables connected to it  to roll the length of the pipe.

Its one thick lensed Cyclops eye, operated by remote control line from the command truck affords the sewerologist in the truck control room to rotate the eye of the Probe to view some 360 degrees of the interior of the pipe on a closed circuit television monitor within the truck. A video tape records the images of the interior surfaces, and will be analyzed by technicians to chart the nuances of the sewer lining procedure to begin shortly.

As the device rolls through White Plains number one sewer line, it is able to discern, “bumps” and trouble areas in the interior service of the pipe. It reveals where the feeder connections come in to the sewer main from the buildings along Main Street.

The person we spoke to said that in addition to inspecting the interior of the pipe, the remote video taping  mapped  the feeder pipe connections to determine where temporary bypasses had to be connected during the lining procedure so as not to interrupt the essential evacuation service to sewer clients during the lining process.

DEPLOYING THE GATORCAM. The Gator is being inserted into the Main Street Line some 15 feet down out of sight of unsuspecting passersby. An underground technician is in the pipe loosing the Gator in White Plains subterranean depths. Photo by WPCNR News

The operation used two trucks, the control and command truck, which deploys the “GatorCam” and a massive “Hoover-on-wheels” which uses high speed suction to perform a foot-by-foot prophylaxis of the sewer pipe prior to the “GatorCam” deployment.

THE AMERICAN WATER SERVICES TASK FORCE WEDNESDAY NIGHT. 10: 30 P.M. The GatorCam Control Truck and Control Room is at the left. The Vacuum Truck is to the right as the GatorCam inspects in the interior of the Main Street Sewer. Photo by WPCNR News.

The operation began at the City Center at 7 PM, and had moved to the vicinity of the Macy’s loading dock and the Vintage Restaurant by 10: 30 P.M. The operation completed on Main Street when the Gator arrived at the connection to the Main line connection to Yonkers at Dr. Martin Luther King Boulevard and The Galleria. It was reeled in and return to its mobile home at 12:45 A.M. E.D.T.

Workers said that during the relining procedure there will be no interruption of sewer service along Main Street. They also observed that at 10:30 P.M. Wednesday evening the sewer pipe was running at 25% capacity (water level 1/4 up the pipe).

American Water Services has a website that explains the lining process, and is at www.americanwaterservices.com.

To comment on this story, write to John Bailey at wpcnr@aol.com.