By: Diane Benjamin
Extending water down East College, where Bloomington already has water lines, is out for bid. Normal has said over and over they are not going to use this line for the current Rivian plant that Bloomington already serves.
See this pic from the bid pack:
Also from the bid pack:
So who owns the pipeline, valves, and fire hydrants that are going to abandoned?
Bloomington’s fire hydrants use a different connection type the Normal does. So is Normal taking over fire protection?
The Town of Normal will do anything to make Rivian comfortable, of course at taxpayer expense. Rumor is Rivian has rewarded Normal by hiring 2 of their fully trained police officers for security. Training is extensive and expensive!
Having worked with folks that deal in these projects there is no doubt Normal promised Rivian the moon before they considered turning over one shovel of dirt. Normal is Rivian’s oyster. Scaringe knows he can get anything out of them and pay little or nothing for it. He hasn’t used one dime of his own money for anything, so why start now? Think Mitsubishi got sweetheart deals, what Rivian is getting now in the future would make look like fools for not asking for more. Of course, there is probably nothing in the state or local government agreements with potential penalties for Rivian if they don’t deliver on what they promised. The best is yet to come on all of this.
Joints and bends are the most common failure points. We usually see this design in temporary installations or to get around immovable structures. If there is no intention to connect to the new main then I’d question why we are not running straight pipe above or below the existing main.