Large Diameter Sewer Rehabilitation Project

Photo Credit: Samantha Looby

Since 2005, Metropolitan Sewer District (MSD) in Kentucky’s Louisville and Jefferson counties had been making emergency repairs on its large diameter sewers that were costly, highly disruptive to the community and only fixed the immediate sewer defect. The city was constantly fixing partial sewer collapses, and inspections revealed holes in sewer walls and voids beneath the street supported only by abandoned trolley tracks. It was clear that the crumbling sewers, originally built in the late 1860s, were in urgent need of rehabilitation.

This presented a massive challenge to the city since the project would involve a wide range of stakeholders and areas within the city including sensitive flood protection areas, disadvantaged neighborhoods, busy healthcare districts, commercial business districts, school zones and public parks. Each of the sewers within these areas required rehabilitation methods tailored to the original sewer construction techniques, the specific failures found, availability of funding, traffic restrictions and sewage flow requirements.

MSD determined that the best way to address these challenges was to use Progressive Design-Build (PDB). Using PDB allowed early collaboration on the project team to quickly agree on repair solutions, allowing for earlier permitting and expediting orders for materials with long lead times to improve the project schedule. This accelerated schedule also allowed the team to close road lanes and detour traffic sooner to prevent further infrastructure damage, property damage and public injuries.

Winning the Trust of the Community

Due to the potential for severe community impacts during the rehabilitation work, outreach and building trust with the public was a crucial challenge that the project team needed to address. The team engaged the community through multiple townhall meetings, presentations, and door-to-door discussions focused on the necessity of the rehabilitation work to the prevent sewer collapses previously plaguing the city. These efforts resulted in overwhelming support for a project that would require multiple public disruptions in order to prevent the even more disruptive collapses of sewers. Not only did this project restore the community’s overall trust in its sewer collection system, but it also stimulated the economy by employing a 76% local workforce. The team also exceeded project inclusion goals for minority and women owned businesses.

Design-Build Team

Photos