Newburgh Sewer Main Collapse, Reconstruction

NEWBURGH – The City of Newburgh Engineering Department discovered a collapse of the sewer main at the southern edge of the City on the evening of Sunday, October 25, 2020. The sewer collapse caused an embankment failure directly below the intersection of Liberty Street and Bay View Terrace.

Initial reports estimated that 20 gallons of raw sewage per minute were being released, which immediately prompted the activation of the City’s Emergency Preparedness Plan and utilization of powers granted therein to hire emergency contractors who were able to mobilize and successfully install a sewer bypass system within hours of the initial discovery.
The bypass pump located on Bayview Terrace will continue to be operational with low flows observed in the manhole at Liberty Street and Bay View Terrace. As the project unfolds, additional work will consist of continued sewer main cleaning coupled with a larger excavator that is being mobilized to the project site to haul in stone to stockpile near the collapsed area.

Following the completion of the sewer bypass system, City staff and emergency contractors have been working around-the-clock to stabilize the embankment and remove the debris, all of which will ultimately lead to the repair and reconstruction of the collapsed sewer main. More than 1,000 feet of temporary sewer piping was used to establish the bypass system currently in operation. In addition, the City of Newburgh used more than 400 tons of road millings to assist with establishing a road for emergency crews to easily transport materials to the site of the sewer collapse.

Aside from the critical infrastructure work currently underway, a positive outcome of the sewer failure will be the removal of significant amounts of trash and debris scattered across the area surrounding the embankment failure, which will ultimately lead to significant ecological improvements.

During the project, the City and its contractors unearthed remnants of a historic footpath that may have once extended from the end of Liberty St. down the bluff and across the Quassaick Creek to connect City residents to their jobs at nearby factories in the late 19th and early 20th Century. In addition, several hundred feet of VCP sewer main and a brick manhole were uncovered within the embankment area.

Thankfully, sewer service has remained uninterrupted. The City will be certain to keep residents updated as the project unfolds. The public is encouraged to please avoid the temporary piping situated along the bluff on Bayview Terrace.