For Immediate Release
2004-04-23
For further information contact:
Cindie Ashton, Communications Officer, 546-4291, ext. 3116 (cell 329-3462)
PIPES ARRIVE FOR CATARAQUI RIVER UTILITY CROSSING
The first of three 300 metre sections of new pipe, that will replace the 50-year old water and sewer pipes that lay
beneath Kingston's Inner Harbour, arrived in Kingston today.
"A barge towing one of the 300 metre sections of pipe left the Bay of Quinte, in Belleville, late yesterday afternoon
and passed under the La Salle Causeway and into the Harbour just after seven o'clock this morning," says Jim Miller,
Manager of Technical Service for Utilities Kingston. The first pipe to arrive was a 400 millimetres in diameter pipe
that will transport water from the King Street Water Purification Plant to City east residents.
"If the weather cooperates, the two 300 metre sections of sewage pipe will leave Belleville on Saturday morning and are
expected to arrive in Kingston early Sunday," adds Miller. The sewage pipes are one metre in diametre and will transport
sewage from the River Street Pumping Station to the Ravensview Water Pollution Control Plant.
Later this year, the remaining 800 metre sections are planned to be delivered and installed.
More information and images of the work on the Cataraqui River Utility Crossing project are available by visiting the
website, at www.utilitieskingston.com
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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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