City plans relief sewer for Maumee

March 17, 2016

City plans relief sewer for Maumee

Dave Gong | The Journal Gazette

The Fort Wayne Board of Public Works approved about $8.1 million Wednesday for a sewer-relief project for the Maumee River and neighborhood improvements on the city’s southeast side.

The planned relief sewer will run east of the city’s water treatment plant on Dwenger Avenue. It will cross under Coliseum Boulevard to connect to a sewer interceptor that runs parallel to Coliseum Boulevard. The cost of the sewer project is just under $6.5 million.

Once complete, the pipe, which consists of 5,720 feet of 54-inch pipe and 620 feet of 30-inch pipe, will capture flow from two combined sewer overflow locations along the Maumee River, reducing sewer overflows by more than 3 million gallons per year. The project is expected to start in May and finish in May 2017, officials said.

The project is part of a 2008 agreement with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Indiana Department of Environmental Management to significantly reduce combined sewer overflow into the city’s rivers during heavy rainfall.

The city must reduce the number of times its combined sewers overflow into Fort Wayne’s three rivers – St. Joseph, St. Marys and Maumee – from an average of 76 per year to four. The city has to achieve that goal by 2025.

Also, repairs for concrete streets, sidewalks and curbs are planned for the Hoevelwood, Hickory Grove and Casselwood neighborhoods in southeast Fort Wayne. The project, which costs just under $1.7 million, will also install new Americans With Disabilities Act-compliant ramps. The project is expected to start this spring and end in early November.

The City Council will have to approve both projects this month.