WOODLEAF — The Rowan County Board of Commissioners is accepting bids “to provide the necessary materials, labor, equipment and supervision” to construct approximately 19.3 acres of phase five of the Rowan County landfill on Campbell Road.

This will be the newest of the landfill’s intended nine phases and will cost an estimated $12 million. The funds come out of the landfill’s enterprise fund, which means it doesn’t cost Rowan County taxpayers anything extra since the landfill supports itself.

Phase five should be able to accept approximately 2.7 million cubic yards worth of waste and has a life expectancy of about eight years. The total life expectancy of the entire landfill is 31 years from now, so it should be in use until 2053.

The construction of phase five is expected to be finished within 270 days after receiving the green light to start.

“We want to get the first part done sometime in June, that’s kind of the target,” said Craig Powers, Rowan County’s director of Engineering and Environmental Services.

Phase five is broken up into two “cells.”

Cell one is approximately 6.25 acres and should be completed within 120 days after permission is granted to proceed. Cell two, the second part of phase five’s construction, is approximately 13 acres and also has a completion date of 120 days after the notice to proceed. After the cells are built, there will be an additional 30 days to make sure everything is in order.

Powers said the hope is to have cell one opened for use by the summer.

In February, commissioners approved a task order and retained HDR Engineering, Inc. of the Carolinas, a firm based out of Charlotte, to complete design work, construction drawings, a construction application, management plans and a hydrogeological study for phase five.

The landfill, which has been in operation since 1980, has seen record levels of waste in the past three years, according to earlier Post reporting. COVID is reportedly primarily to blame for that since people stayed home more and produced more waste. In 2020, there was a record high of 170,876 tons of waste thrown into the landfill, over 25,000 more tons than in 2019. But that number kept growing, with 180,366 tons of waste in 2021, the current record.

Powers could not estimate how much waste is expected for 2022, but he said “the disposal rates are staying the same and have not returned to pre-COVID levels.”

Another reason disposal rates are staying steady and could see a potential increase this year: Rowan County is growing.

“We are getting some smaller increases, which is expected from the population growth happening around the county,” Powers said. That means phase five’s construction is much needed for the Woodleaf facility.

Potential bidders have until 5 p.m. Friday, Dec. 8 to submit written questions concerning phase five. Then, actual bids will be accepted until Friday, Dec. 16, at 10 a.m., at the Rowan County Purchasing Department, 130 West Innes St., Suite 31.