Tuesday, May 18, 1999
County sees worth of extra sewer work
Riverfront project needs $1.6M more
BY DAN KLEPAL
The Cincinnati Enquirer
A $9.7 million plumbing job intended to keep raw sewage out of the Ohio River is coming in over budget.
But the benefits of the project have Hamilton County commissioners ready to open the public treasury.
The riverfront sewer project, being built in conjunction with the Fort Washington Way overhaul, will cost $1.6 million more than expected.
But during a presentation Monday, all three commissioners voiced their support for it.
Commissioners are expected to approve the additional expense, which will come from the budget of the Metropolitan Sewer District (MSD), at Wednesday's regular meeting.
“I think we shouldn't be afraid to invest additional dollars now,” Commissioner Bob Bedinghaus said. “If we had made these types of investments 30 or 40 years ago, we wouldn't have some of the problems we do today.”
The project will lay additional sewer pipes under the revamped Fort Washington Way so that rainwater, also called stormwater, isn't moved with sewage.
That system creates problems during heavy rains, because the pipes spew excess water — a putrid mixture of rain water and sewage — into the river. Basements downtown and in Mount Adams also become flooded during heavy storms.
It happens an average of 66 times a year — a number that will be reduced to about four when the new system is installed, engineers say.
MSD Director Pat Karney said the project would cost $15 million to $20 million more if it were done after the road work was complete.
John Deatrick, project manager for Fort Washington Way, agreed the time is right.
“It's like an operation. We've got the patient open, so we might as well get in there and do everything we've got to do,” Mr. Deatrick said. “Because opening it back up is so traumatic, it just makes sense to take care of two problems at once.”
The project is coming in over budget because it has been expanded and because of what engineers found when they dug up the original pipes, some of which date to the mid-1800s.
“Accurate drawings (of the sewer lines) do not go back that far,” Mr. Karney said. “The pipes drop at a more drastic rate than we had expected, so the sewer lines had to go in at a greater depth.
“And (with additional changes to the plan), we saw greater opportunities for environmental benefit.”
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