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Welcome to the 21st Century
No you won't be going to work in a flying car
But you'll enjoy many other advantages of the modern age
Things like modern, safe roadways
Reliable, courteous curbside trash and recycling pickup
Pedestrian friendly crosswalks
Well planned and maintained Public Parks, complete with art displays
All these wonderful conveniences part of your city's plan
All possible because of Public Works
Beautiful Chattanooga, a city that has so much to offer, so much to share
So much to celebrate
Once known for being the dirtiest city in America
Chattanooga is now recognized for its natural beauty, dynamic economy
And leadership in cutting-edge technologies
Chattanooga's 170-thousand residents rely on a dedicated
team of engineers, managers, designers and skilled workers to keep every aspect of
day-to-day life running smoothly
This team goes by the name DEPARTMENT of PUBLIC WORKS
I like to say we touch peoples lives from the time they get up in the morning,
until the last thing at night
Public Works accomplishes
Not just services to the residents like garbage and brush collection,
it also provides city engineering services,
design roads, correct deficiencies in roads
We have the
Waste Resources Division, which is predominately the Moccasin Bend Waste Water Treatment Plant
and the collection system there. And rolled
under the City Engineer's Office right now is a Water Quality section
Which is responsible in insuring the City of Chattanooga complies with their permit issued by
the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation
We have a little saying in-house here, that if it winks, blinks, stinks, or sinks
it's probably part of Public Works
A citizen's connection with Public Works usually starts with a phone call
This woman has just finished some yard work and has brush that needs to be picked up
She calls 3-1-1
That number rings into this office
Where a staff of trained customer service representatives
can take her request and route it to the appropriate city department
In this case Citywide Services a division of Public Works
They dispatch a truck, which then arrives at the citizen's house and picks up the brush
And this is only the beginning of a series of events that benefits more than
just our tree trimmer
The truck now brings the brush from her house and others to the Wood Recycling Center
Here, the brush is put through a chipper and turned into mulch
City residents can now come here and receive as much mulch as they need
FREE of CHARGE!
Of course not only brush but household garbage is picked up at curbside
This is also part of the job of Citywide Services
Both manual
And automatic trucks wind their way through hundreds of neighborhoods
Picking up garbage on a regular schedule
Traveling more than 32-hundred miles a week, bringing some
14-hundred tons of garbage to the landfill to be safely buried
Once a hill is completed topsoil is added and a lush green landscape results
And, looking to the future
"well-heads" are installed
These collect methane gas which is created by the decomposing garbage
Hopefully to someday generate thousands of kilowatts for electricity to be put
back on the grid to power nearby homes
Chattanooga is also heavily invested in recycling
Centers, located throughout the City
Accept materials from word and paper
To plastic glass and metals for recycling
Another type of recycling happens within the Urban Forestry Division
Here trees are being cleared
Enterprise South is where
Volkswagen is. Before they can do any more expansion they have to
put in a retention pond
And so by the time they get their
equipment and construction crews in here
the timing is going to be off because there's an endangered species called
Indiana Bat
And they come in and they nest in the Shagbark Hickory, its a species of tree
they will nest in
And we want to try to get those trees down before the Indiana Bats come in so we
don't hurt their nesting trees
And the very next day Wilson's crew is out in the city
planting new trees
All part of Urban Forestry mission of responsible stewardship of the City's green spaces
That responsibility extends to the cities many beautiful parks and
community centers as well as street-scaping along the city's thoroughfares
And when mother nature threatens to turn those green spaces white
crew members of Citywide Services prepare to keep the roadways clear
A mountain of sand
And salt
And monster trucks are ready and waiting for the call
Even after the event Citywide Services is there to help clean up
Public Works is part of our lives
everyday!
In fact
Citizens would notice very quickly if Public Works weren't there
Some things would go pretty bad, pretty quick. And some of them wouldn't take a day or two before you start having issues
And if you throw Mother Nature into that mix with some of her issues
With flooding, salt and sand with snow issues, where we have salt and sand. It can get pretty ugly pretty quick
where a lot of tempers would be at the boiling point
Keeping Chattanooga is moving is one job of the City Engineer's Office
From designing safe, effective interchange to pedestrian and bicycle lanes
These team members make Chattanooga easy to get around
Engineers have managed to bypass congested areas of town with innovative
design of more extensions that connect key routes
Roundabouts have proven to be a great way to handle large volumes of traffic
Without creating back-ups and jams
And the green spaces around them keep lines of sight clear
And provide beautification to an otherwise stark landscape
One of the most in-DISPENSIBLE services provided by the City of Chattanooga
Public Works Department
may start
right in your bathroom
Sewers fall under the Moccasin Bend Wastewater Treatment Plant
When you flush
the wastewater and solid waste
travel down an intricate network of pipes until they reach this facility
And, once here
The process is similar to that which occurs in the human body. We're a wastewater treatment facility
we operate
24 hours a day 365 days a year.T here is never a time when we're not operating and there is not someone here processing wastewater
The liquids are processed, treated, purified
Then released back into the Tennessee River
The solids are turned into a hi-grade fertilizer called bio-solids
This is then given to local farmers for use on a variety of crops
Absolutely Free!
The City will even deliver and apply the bio-solids
This department is also responsible for maintaining that network of sewers
Here, a 3-1-1 call from a resident saying he smelled sewage on his property
Mobilizes a Public Works crew to come out and perform
A "smoke test."
They forcibly pump harmless smoke into the sewers in the resident's neighborhood
Wherever there's an opening to the atmosphere, they see smoke
In some cases, such as manhole covers and vents from houses
It's expected and normal
But smoke coming from the grass means there's a leak in the sewer line
And that needs repair
Sometimes that sewer problem could be caused by roots or other objects
breaking the line
That's when cruise control a robotic camera into the line for a visual inspection
This waterproof virtually indestructible device
let's public works personnel locate the problem which then leads to the repair
Sometimes the problem is just a little too much IN the pipe
This vacuum truck can handle that situation
Powerful suction clears the sewer lines allowing for the free flow for your next flush
Sewers aren't the only water of concern to the Public Works Department
The Water Quality Division is constantly sampling stormwater runoff
and local streams and ponds to ensure EPA and other federal regulations are met
They're looking for hazardous chemicals pathogens that other harmful waste that
could enter our water supply
The end result
Clean safe water ways for the vast array of water-based recreational activities
in the Scenic City
The Department of Public Works is also responsible for the oversight of future
projects in the city
That's where the office of City Engineering comes in
This contractor has plans to build a new office building downtown
His first step is to bring his designs and for approval and permitting
He'll discuss the specifics of his design with the project manager
Once construction begins
Engineers visit the site to ensure all safety requirements are being met
Both for the buildings future occupants
and for those who are currently constructing it
Not only do these inspectors keep an eye on new construction
but older buildings also fall under the watchful eyes
Older buildings that can be rehabilitated are kept safe
While those in danger of collapse
are slated for demolition
It's all in the interest of public safety
Public Works
can only work
with people
People like you maybe
One mission of the department
is to show the next generation how they can take their place in continuing the
stewardship of our community
We probably cover
the widest array of career opportunities there are
We've got
managers and supervisors with Masters Degree
in Business Administration
All the way down to labor trades, concrete workers,
General crew works that are general labor trades and construction
Truck drivers, heavy equipment operators
We've got an inspection division
Just a multitude of career opportunities
the City of Chattanooga
A great place to live
because of PUBLIC WORKS!