Plymouth Council Takes 'Emergency' Action on Collapsed Sanitary Pipe

Plymouth Council on Monday night approved an “emergency” motion to pay for the repair of a sanitary line near the Conshohocken border.

The pipe, which is located near Colwell Road and Sixth Avenue, was found to be cracked, collapsed and dilapidated by crews working in Conshohocken.  

“[Crews in] Conshohocken were down there and while the contractor was doing repairs, they found a line that goes to a meter of ours, and found that the pipe on our side was bad,” Plymouth Council Chairman Sheldon Simpson said after the meeting. “They notified our public works director earlier this month and told him to check it out.” 

Simpson said the crews in Conshohocken are already doing the work; Plymouth Township will “piggyback” on the work to the tune of $44,000 to fix the pipe, which will come out of the township’s storm sewer fund.

“They’ve determined that pieces of the pipe are missing,” Simpson said. “It’s dilapidated and needs to be repaired now. [Public works director] Chris [Loschiavo] looked at the work and said that it’s a fair price.”  

The pipe itself is 20 inches in diameter, 200 feet long … and perhaps 100 years old, according to Simpson. No Plymouth Township residents lost sewer or water service due to the condition of the pipe.