If you have been along Avondale Road in the vicinity of the Leiper House you can not help notice the rather large amount of construction equipment and activity in the area. This project is the effort of the Central Delaware County Authority (CDCA) who is undertaking this significant construction project to upgrade an aging concrete sewer line that runs from Newtown Square to Crum Lynne. A portion of this line runs through Swarthmore College’s Crum Woods and continues along the Crum Creek in Nether Providence Township. The CDCA is comprised of 5 boroughs and 7 townships in Delaware County.
The aging infrastructure known as the Crum Creek Interceptor was constructed in 1938. It starts at Chester Pike and runs north along Crum Creek, to Nether Providence. In 1960, the line was extended to the Delaware County Community College to service the Township of Marple.
The interceptor was initially designed to service the entire Lower Crum Creek Watershed, however, the 1960 extension was designed only to service Marple Township. The remaining communities decided not to connect due to a lack of development. This resulted in the newer part of the interceptor not having capacity for the lower Crum Creek Watershed as initially anticipate.
Forty years later, the vision of servicing the lower Crum Creek Watershed is becoming a reality. Three new Townships have joined the Authority, each now needing centralized sewer service. The Crum Creek Interceptor, parts of which are over 60 years old, need rehabilitation and in certain areas, capacity expansion.
This project will rehabilitate the interceptor and increase it’s capacity to service the entire Lower Crum Creek.
Construction Along Crum Creek In Swarthmore
On November 9, 2010, the Authority awarded this contract(s) to Metra Industries for a combine price of $14,723,010.
Work on the new pipe installation began in April and is anticipated to run through August, followed by with landscape restoration work. The project is scheduled to be completed in December 2011.
