Some Things Are Built to Last

By David Cole

I moved to Troy, AL over 20 years ago for work. I lived in a little apartment on Three Notch Street. Never once while I lived there did I think about the water infrastructure delivering clean, safe drinking water to my apartment. As it turns out, a piece of Troy’s history has been quietly doing its job there for more than a century.

A 10-inch cast iron water main installed in 1895 still serves the 300 block of North Three Notch Street today. It went into the ground more than 130 years ago, long before most of the buildings, businesses and streetscapes that Troy residents know today were even imagined.

Generations of residents have walked above it, and generations of families have turned on their taps without ever wondering about what was carrying that water beneath them.

That is precisely what makes the story so remarkable.

The City of Troy Utilities has been inducted into the Ductile Iron Pipe Research Association’s Century Club, which recognizes water systems with cast iron pipe that has provided a century or more of continuous service.

But the honor is about more than an old piece of pipe.

It reminds us of the foresight of the people who built Troy’s water system in the first place.

The engineers and civic leaders of the late 19th century did not have the technology we have today. They could not anticipate Troy’s growth or picture what the city would look like more than a century later. What they could do was make a decision based on a simple idea: build something well and build it to last.

That decision has paid dividends ever since.

We tend to celebrate the things we can see, like historic buildings, beautiful public spaces, landmarks, and monuments. But some of a community’s most important history is hidden from view, underground and performing its job every day.

At the City Council meeting where the induction took place, Mayor Jason A. Reeves noted that cast iron and Ductile iron have played a critical role in supplying clean, safe water throughout the city. Today, Troy continues to rely on Ductile iron pipe for new water mains because they have confidence that their history of outstanding service from iron pipe will continue for future generations.

That creates a remarkable connection between Troy’s past and its future.

The engineers who selected cast iron in 1895 chose infrastructure capable of meeting the demands of a growing community.  Modern Ductile iron pipe builds on that same philosophy, combining today’s engineering and innovative design to deliver the strength, flexibility and longevity that communities like Troy depend on.

DIPRA’s Century Club celebrates that continuity.

It recognizes the material, certainly, but it also honors the people who had the foresight to invest in infrastructure built for generations they will never meet.

There may be no better definition of a hometown legacy.

Presenting the Century Club certificate to Mayor Reeves, in the town where my wife and I are raising our family, was a moment I will carry with me for the rest of my career. It’s a reminder that the work we do today can serve people long after we’re gone. That is what building to last really means.