Erie County Sewer District No. 4 has begun the installation of a sanitary sewer project in the Towns of Cheektowaga and Lancaster that will eliminate the Aurora North Pumping Station.
The Aurora North Pumping Station is almost 40 years old and in need of a major expenditure to bring the station up to current standards and service levels. The Erie County Division of Sewerage Management (DSM) evaluated various alternatives and based on life cycle cost analyses determined that a new gravity sewer eliminating the pumping station is the most cost effective and beneficial solution for the ratepayers of the sewer district. There are multiple other benefits to the selection of this option, including the redirection of flows away from infrastructure where capacity is limited.
The Erie County DSM provided all the necessary topographic survey, engineering design, drafting, easement acquisitions, permit and regulatory approvals, construction plans and specifications, as well as construction phase services/inspection for this project. Using County personnel allowed the engineering costs to be lower than using an outside consultant, providing the ratepayers a cost effective solution for engineering services. Bids were obtained and Concrete Applied Technologies Corporation, known as Catco, is the contractor for this $7.8 million project.
Construction of the new sanitary sewer began in October 2015 with the installation of a new manhole on an existing large interceptor sewer line at the corner of Losson Road and Borden Road in the Town of Cheektowaga. The existing interceptor sewer is 40 feet deep, making the installation of this manhole very difficult. As of March 2016, Catco had installed 3,000 feet of 27” diameter sanitary sewer pipe in the north travel lane of Losson Road from Borden Road to just west of Transit Road. Traffic was restricted to one lane during construction hours. Catco’s pipe laying operation shut down for the winter and re-started in April. During the first week of May, the sanitary sewer will be installed across Transit Road during night construction. Afterward, sewer installation will continue east along William Street for approximately 800-feet, followed by an alignment heading south in the vicinity of Flix Theatre and then south and east through back lots to the pumping station on Aurora Street. Upon successful completion and testing of the new sewer, the existing pumping station will be eliminated and demolished.
The project will last through the summer and is expected to be completed in the fall of 2016.