Cobb County

Cobb neighbors say construction crews doing more harm than good

By Michele Newell
By Michele Newell

ACWORTH, Ga. — Several neighbors in a Cobb County community are concerned about a pipeline replacement project that they say is disrupting their daily lives.

A section of Poplar Street in Acworth is shutdown as crews work on the project.

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“We couldn’t park in our driveway for weeks and weeks and weeks,” said Katrina Botts, who lives in the neighborhood.

“They hit my mailbox, knocked it down. It was right here, they just tied it to the tree over here,” said Arthur David Hightower, who lives nearby.

Some neighbors say the project is a daily headache for them.

“They didn’t tell us they were going to cut down trees. Our house has shaken so much that it’s cracked on the back end of it,” said Botts.

“I was forced to park further down the street and then walk up walk across the mud and all that to get to my house fortunately it was only a few days,” said Vicky Smith who lives in the neighborhood.

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Some neighbors say they have to drive to the post office to get their mail, others say they experienced the same problem until recently.

“The mail people started delivering to my front door but they would weekly, not daily,” said Smith.

The Cobb County Marietta Water Authority released a statement in response to concerns from neighbors.

“The Cobb County-Marietta Water Authority (CCMWA) is replacing a source water pipeline from its intake on Allatoona Lake off Steven Road in Bartow County to its Wyckoff Water Treatment Plant off Mars Hill Road in Acworth. The project replaces roughly 7,200 feet of 30-inch pre-stressed concrete cylinder pipe installed in 1965 with 54-inch ductile iron pipe. The project is nearing completion with roughly 600 feet of pipe left to replace. Unfortunately, in the area of Poplar Street in Acworth, the pipeline traverses the roadway. Excavation of the pipe trench along the roadway at Poplar Street and Cox Circle revealed very poor soil conditions and an unexpected conflict with CCMWA’s existing 60-inch pipeline. The elevation conflict with the existing 60-inch pipeline is requiring additional engineering, which has unfortunately resulted in a temporary stoppage of work in the area, by the pipeline contractor, Garney Construction. CCMWA is concerned about residents of Poplar Street being able to access their residences. As a result, CCMWA is working closely with Garney Construction to install a temporary road along Poplar Street, despite the poor soil conditions, which have been exacerbated by abnormally high rainfall. CCMWA is committed to establishing access through Poplar Street as soon as possible.”

—  Cole Blackwell, Cobb County-Marietta Water Authority General Manager

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