County Commission | The Magazine June 2017 | Page 31

NEWS YOU CAN USE
The 12-person county crew had:
• Moved more than 100,000 cubic yards of dirt and
900 tons of rip rap;
• Laid 3,400 linear feet of reinforced concrete pipe
at an average depth of 15 feet, interspersed with
10 prefabricated junction boxes.
“All of this while working 50 feet from an airport
taxiway and with an active runway just 500 feet
away,” the nomination stated.
One showpiece of the project is an energy
dissipating headwall at the drainage pipe’s discharge
point. Working from an engineering firm’s drawings,
Houston County employees built the headwall using
1,800 linear feet of rebar and 46 yards of concrete.
Evidently, they did high-quality work. Later a
private sector concrete contractor was so impressed
by the end product that he asked which of his
competitors had framed and poured the headwall. n
The $900,000 storm water drainage project for the
Dothan-Houston County Airport Authority was essential
to a company bringing 100 jobs to the area, and it
improves prospects for further economic growth.
Photos contributed by Houston County
One free, easy call or online request gets member
utilities marked AND helps protect you from injury
and expense.
Safe Digging Is No Accident: Contact 811 Before You Dig.
www.al811.com
COUNTY COMMISSION | 31