A City Under Construction: How Bessemer Replaced 40% of Its Infrastructure
The City of Bessemer and C2AE have worked together many times over the years. So, when MDOT made plans to rebuild 2.75 miles of US-2, Bessemer hired C2AE to lead the concurrent replacement of the rest of the infrastructure within the same corridor.
Over the course of three years, C2AE worked with three separate general contractors, 11 subcontractors, five funding sources, and multiple jurisdictions on five overlapping utility projects. The primary challenge of—and key to—this work was coordinating these different parties.
Setting the Stage
Upgrades to the City of Bessemer’s sanitary, stormwater, and drinking water systems totaled $20 million in project costs, with $15.1 million, or 75%, coming from USDA-RD grant funding. At the same time, MDOT invested $10.1 million in the US-2 improvements to increase the safety and reliability of the state highway. Due to the State of Michigan’s Lead and Copper Rule, any lead services uncovered during construction would need to be replaced. The rule presented three issues:
The location of lead services was unknown.
USDA funds would not cover the cost of locating or replacing lead services on private property.
The city could not locate and replace these lead services without funding assistance.
To mitigate the risk of finding lead services during the USDA or MDOT projects, which would effectively halt construction, C2AE helped Bessemer secure a DWAM grant to cover 100% of the costs to identify lead services. Then, a DWSRF grant went toward replacing lead services discovered through the DWAM- and USDA-funded work.
C2AE expedited funding applications by relying on data that the firm had collected in past projects. This included SAW program data collected on the sanitary and storm systems. C2AE also used an existing water system asset management plan, which the firm had developed in connection with a previous PASER study.
Results
The infrastructure improvements were a high-profile effort within the City of Bessemer. The projects involved construction on a main corridor through the middle of the community. For two years, residents could not use the highway. All US-2 traffic was detoured through downtown Bessemer. In addition to this traffic, all of the downtown infrastructure was replaced. The multi-faceted project required both financial and emotional investments from the community.
Today, these investments are paying off. Bessemer will have a long future of lower utility rates and no construction. In the past three years, Bessemer has replaced approximately 40% of all roads and utilities in the entire city, plus 62 existing lead water services. 75% of the city’s water infrastructure is now under 45 years old. Additionally, an entire segment of Bessemer is celebrating a drastic improvement to fire flow and water pressure.
Bessemer Mayor Adam Zak said of the effort, “C2AE has made a tremendous difference in our community over the past three years of service. Their coordination with residents and businesses, city staff, MDOT, and various funding sources was instrumental to the successful replacement of 40% of Bessemer’s roads and utilities.”