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!