Southwestern Parkway CSO Basin

Photo Credit: Dakotah DeRoche

The Southwestern Parkway Combined Sewer Overflow (CSO) Basin project is a component of Louisville and Jefferson County Metropolitan Sewer District’s Federal Consent Decree to mitigate CSO’s that discharge into local waterways. This progressive design-build project consisted of a 20 million gallon concrete storage tank and associated washdown systems, odor control provision and a 30 MGD effluent pump station. Located in Shawnee Park, which is part of the Olmsted park system in Louisville and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Preservation of the Olmstedian principles – in particular the pastoral, undulating surface of the Great Lawn – made it vital that the project team find a way to make its final work product essentially invisible to the public. To accommodate this goal, the basin was constructed below the surface of the Great Lawn in Shawnee Park with a walk-out operational access point concealed by park topography.

Incredible Challenges – Impressive Results

As a result of the Progressive Design-Build process, this vital project provided a triple bottom line impact (social, economic and environmental) for the community. A design-bid-build approach to this project previously failed during the final stages of design because of stakeholder pushback and a project schedule that would not allow the Consent Decree deadline to be met. Upon award, the progressive design-build team immediately engaged the community to define the keys to project success. These efforts resulted in overwhelming community support for a project that had previously been faced with opposition. The project incorporated community enhancements including: partial restoration of a historic structure for youth learning opportunities; renovation of a lily pond; improvements to basketball, baseball, and spray ground facilities; pavement resurfacing; landscaping; correction of drainage issues with the creation of multi-purpose fields; and the addition of an open-air pavilion and restroom structure. Not only did this project provide enhancements for the community, it stimulated the economy by employing a 76% local labor workforce.

Design-Build Team