DELRAY BEACH, Fla. — Delray Beach is preparing to address its aging infrastructure.
After seeing news of recent sewer line breaks in Fort Lauderdale, Mayor Shelly Petrolia said she wanted to let residents know Delray Beach is taking proactive steps to avoid the same problems.
People in Fort Lauderdale suffered through several pipes breaking in December. In one case, a 50-year-old pipe broke in several different spots and sent sewer water rushing into homes and flooding streets.
Petorila said aging pipes are a problem that cities are addressing and an issue that Delray Beach started looking at a few years ago. The city finished a condition assessment on 36 miles of pipes in June of last year.
"We need to make sure they're in good condition so we don’t end up in the same situation," said Petrolia.
The information from the condition assessment will be built into the 2021 capital improvement plan. But immediate action from the city will be a request to do electromagnetic scans on two miles of pipes to find corrosion. The request could cost thousands of dollars, but Petrolia said it will be money well spent.
"We don't want to end up in a situation where we trying to medicate issues that are bubbling up, so to speak," said Petrolia.
