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HomeMy Public PortalAboutMaline Factsheet FALL 2020 MSD Project Clear is the Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District’s (MSD) initiative to improve water quality and alleviate many wastewater concerns throughout St. Louis City and County. MSD Project Clear is a long-term effort by MSD, undertaken as part of an agreement with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Missouri Coalition for the Environment. MSD Project Clear will invest billions of dollars over a generation in planning, designing, and building community rainscaping, system improvements, and an ambitious program of maintenance and repair. At times of heavy wet weather, the sewer system of St. Louis City and much of St. Louis County can be overwhelmed, causing overflows into area rivers and streams. Like many cities throughout the United States, this program is designed to reduce the occurrence of sewer overflows that result from older wastewater collection and treatment systems during heavy storms. MSD Project Clear has divided this multi-year, multi-billion dollar investment into numerous projects that will be designed and constructed over the next several decades. The Maline Creek Local Storage Facility project, for example, will address an aging system in the North St. Louis City area of the Region. COMBINED SEWER OVERFLOWS (CSO) – WHAT ARE THEY? Combined sewers were constructed through the mid-1900s to carry a set amount of rainwater and wastewater in the same pipe. During dry weather, these systems can handle the wastewater collected and carry it to the treatment plant. However, during heavy rain or significant snowmelt the wastewater may exceed the capacity of the sewer system or the treatment plant, creating a need to discharge the excess sewage into an adjacent stream or other waterway. These are referred to as combined sewer overflows (CSO) and the pipes that carry the discharges are called “outfalls”. Modifications to the system have been designed to dramatically reduce the amount of overflow into our waterways by holding wastewater and stormwater in storage facilities until capacity is available at the treatment plant. The Maline Creek Storage Facility Project Maline Creek is a small tributary to the Mississippi River that lies on the northern edge of the City of St. Louis. The Maline Creek facility is the second MSD Project Clear storage project to be constructed. The Maline Creek storage facility will run from Chain of Rocks Drive to Church Road. In this project, there are two locations, just upstream of the confluence of the Mississippi River, where combined sewers may discharge into Maline Creek during significant rain events. They are located near the intersection of Riverview Drive and Maline Creek. The Maline Creek project will divert the excess water and sewage to the storage facility during significant rain events. After the rain subsides, a pump station will transfer the stored flow back to the system for treatment at the Bissell Point Wastewater Treatment Plant. Maline Creek Storage Facility Construction Activities MSD awarded the $82.8 million construction contract for the Maline Creek Storage Facility in early 2016. Construction will take place until the end of 2020 and some of the construction activities will have direct impacts for those living, working, and visiting the community. As of September 1, 2020, the overall project is 96% complete. FALL 2020 MALINE CREEK CSO BP 051 & 052 LOCAL STORAGE FACILITY For more information on the Project Clear Program visit http://www.projectclearstl.org/ BUILDING THE UNDERGROUND FACILITY The underground storage facility will be 175 feet below the ground surface. To reach that depth the construction team has “blasted” a 40-foot diameter circular shaft. The underground storage facility will be a 2,700 foot long, 28-foot diameter tunnel located below Riverview Drive between Chain of Rocks Drive and Church Drive. The construction shaft is located near N. Broadway and Riverview Drive on property that was purchased for this project. Soil was excavated from the upper 40 feet of the shaft. When the rock surface was reached, the rock was drilled and blasted to break the rock into pieces small enough to be removed by backhoe, buckets, and crane. Now that the shaft is no longer needed for tunnel construction, the pump station that will remove water from the storage facility has been constructed within the shaft and above the shaft as depicted in the photo to the right. Construction of the pump station is 98% complete as of September 1, 2020 and the facility is undergoing startup and testing. BLASTING Blasting operations began in October 2016 and continued through the summer of 2018 for the storage facility excavation. The storage facility excavation is now complete. DIRECTING RESIDENTIAL AND COMMERCIAL WASTEWATER AND STORMWATER FLOW INTO THE FACILITY This project will reduce the amount of CSO discharge into Maline Creek by directing the flow through “intake structures” to the storage facility. Two of these intake structures – one at Chain of Rocks Drive, and one at Church Drive - and their related construction activities will have minor traffic and noise impacts to the community. The third structure has been built next to the existing CSO 052 intake structure on the east bank of Maline Creek. Given its location there will be minimal impact to the community. Shaft drilling work for all of the intake structures was completed in spring 2017. As of September 1, 2020: construction of the Chain of Rocks Drive intake is 99% complete. Minor work will continue at the site through Fall 2020. Construction of the CSO 052 intake is 95% complete and work will be completed in early fall 2020. The restoration of the Church Drive site will continue to be active through fall of 2020. Construction of the Church Drive intake is currently 96% complete. TRAFFIC IMPACTS Traffic will be impacted for a period during construction. ◼ Construction of the Church Drive structure required Riverview Drive to be reduced to one lane in each direction as depicted in the photo to the left. The lane restrictions will remain in place while the roadway is being restored in fall of 2020. ◼ The construction of a new sewer on Jordan St., Melvin Avenue, and Donnell Avenue has been completed. There will be minor traffic restrictions as the pavement is restored in fall of 2020. ◼ Chain of Rocks Drive at Riverview Drive has been reopened and the lane restrictions on Riverview Drive have been removed. WHO TO CONTACT Questions or concerns about construction should be directed to John Deeken at (314) 282-8502 during normal business hours between 6:00 AM and 3:30 PM. If there is an emergency please call 911!