Lane Engineering, Inc.

The Derby water and sewer project consists of three (3) phase contracts.  The initial phase is a Virginia Department of Housing & Community Development (DHCD) “Self-Help” project.  For this phase of the effort, the community offsets a portion of the construction cost by providing 50 percent of the cost through volunteered labor.  The Self-Help portion, the majority of the work, will replace the existing 80 year old water lines with a new 6-inch water line and the installation of 11,000 linear feet of 2- and 3-inch force main.  Phase two provides for the construction of 3,600 linear feet of 8-inch gravity sewer line and manholes by conventional procurement of a licensed contractor.  The third phase was scheduled to provide for the procurement and installation of 56 individual grinder pump stations and a collection system pump station to discharge to the Town of Appalachia’s system. After evaluation by the Lane Engineering Team the number of operational grinder pumps was limited to 10, thus minimizing the maintenance and operational costs related to the grinder pumps.

Funding for the project comes from a number of sources.  DHCD provided an $853,000 grant, the Wise County Coal Road Fund, in conjunction with the Virginia Department of Transportation will contribute $100,000 for the repavement of Derby Road upon completion of the project, and Hands Across the Mountain, Inc. (a non-profit) will contribute $40,000.

Note: The photo shows Governor Mark Warner working with the Self-Help crew installing waterline.  During his opening remarks, he stated that the Derby Community Project was the first Self-Help project in the state to install sewer line.  He went on to note how the combination of both the water and sewer in as single project added a new dimension to what Self-Help projects could accomplish with proper support of the community, local government, and other professionals.

This page last modified on June 08, 2006