For Immediate Release
2004-04-05
For further information contact:
Cindie Ashton, Communications Officer, 546-4291, ext. 3116 (cell 329-3462)
WORK RESUMES ON CATARAQUI RIVER UTILITY CROSSING
Nearly four months after ice forced work to stop on the Cataraqui River utility crossing, the project has resumed. Crews
will continue to prepare the river bottom and replace the 50-year old pipes that currently carry sewage and water across
the Great Cataraqui River.
In about two weeks the dredging will be complete. "Once complete, three 300 metre sections of new pipe will arrive by
water," says Jim Miller, Manager of Technical Service for Utilities Kingston. "They'll be floated into place and sunk
into position."
Later this year, the three remaining 800 metre sections of new pipe will be delivered and installed. Once all the
sections of the three new pipes have been installed, each will stretch just over one kilometre in length beneath the
Great Cataraqui River.
"Of the three pipes, two will be used to transport sewage from the River Street Pumping Station to the Ravensview Water
Pollution Control Plan for treatment. The third will transport water from the King Street Water Purification Plant to
City east residents", added Miller. The sewage pipes are one metre in diameter and the water main is 400 millimetre.
More information and images of the work in progress are available by visiting the Web site, at www.utilitieskingston.com.
BACKGROUND
The water main and sewage forcemains were installed under the river in 1955. The sewage forcemain conveys sewage
generated by approximately 60,000 people living and working west of the river to the Ravensview Water Pollution Control
Plant located east of the river. The water main carries water from the King Street Purification Plant west of the river
to about 10,000 people living east of the river.
Since they were installed, both the water main and the sewage forcemain have operated without problems. In 1997, divers
conducted visual inspections and found no signs of pipe movement or leakage.
However, these pipes are now almost 50 years old and, if problems were to occur, there is no backup in place for either
system. Furthermore, the River Street Pumping Station, which pumps sewage through the forcemain, has insufficient
storage to handle flows during wet weather events. As a result, combined sewer overflows to the river occur during heavy
rainfall when storage capacity is exceeded. Combined sewers are sewers that collect sanitary sewage from buildings as
well as rainwater and snowmelt from streets.
A provincial class environmental assessment (EA) was completed to determine how best to address system reliability and
environmental protection concerns with the existing crossings. Several alternatives were considered in consultation with
technical and community advisors and the general public. The preferred solution identified at the conclusion of the
study was twinning of the existing water main and sewage force main by means of dredging. The Great Cataraqui River
Utilities Crossing EA was registered on public record and approved in July 2001.
Detailed investigations were conducted over the subsequent year leading to preparation of the Great Cataraqui River
Utilities Crossing Project: Preliminary Design Report, which confirms the technical feasibility of the proposed
construction approach and provides design parameters for the new water main and sewage forcemain. Clearing a final
hurdle, the municipality received technical approval of its use of the lands adjacent to the City of Kingston snow
disposal facility on Division Street as a temporary storage and dewatering facility for dredged material.
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