Rusted pumps will be replaced

A crew from pumping manufacturer Fairbanks-Morse is scheduled to replace pumps at Cape Girardeau's Merriwether pumping station, which experienced a mechanical failure during a recent rise in the levels of the Mississippi River.

City public works officials learned around 8 p.m. Friday that rust had formed inside the pumps, requiring installation of temporary portable pumps from Heartland Pump Rental and Sales in Carterville, Ill. Public works assistant director Steve Cook said the problem caught his staff off guard, as rust had slowly formed inside the pumps during the past five decades.

The temporary pumps were installed early Saturday to keep the station operating until employees from the Kansas City, Kan.-based company could come to Cape Girardeau this week. Cook said the temporary pumps will be returned to Heartland Pump Rental and Sales when the project is complete.

Cook said the downtown area was never in danger, as to two of the pumps remained operable until the temporary pumps arrived.

The Merriwether station is vital during high-water periods. The pumping station at the foot of Merriwether Street is at the low end of the downtown commercial district and is used when the river is above 32 feet.

Water levels for the Mississippi River stood at just less than 40 feet when the station experienced the failure.

Once a Fairbanks-Morse crew arrives in Cape Girardeau today or Wednesday, they will meet with the public works department and the Army Corps of Engineers to determine the cost and time needed to replace at least one 12-inch pump and three 36-inch pumps.

Work on the project is expected to begin Thursday or Friday.

Cook said city employees will not directly be involved in replacing the pumps because of the complexity of the project. The Fairbanks-Morse crew will work off blueprints from when the pumps were installed in the station in 1958, Cook said.

"The important thing to keep in mind is that additional rainfall and a rising in the Mississippi River's water level is not expected," Cook said. "This will enable crews from Fairbanks-Morse to have plenty of time to conduct their work here."

This is not the first time the pumping station has experienced problems. On June 26, lightning knocked out power to the pumps, flooding downtown Cape Girardeau with four feet of water.

Within 90 minutes, power had been restored and water drained back into the Mississippi River. Cook said the city hopes to one day have a generator or other alternate power source available in case of power failure.

"During that instance we were concerned not about pump failure but the loss of power to the pumping station," Cook said. "This time it was the pumping station itself that failed and this project will prevent that from happening in the future."

bblackwell@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 137

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