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Repairs to PWSA resevoir to cost more than expected

PITTSBURGH — It will cost just under $800,000 more than expected to plug a leaky water main supplying Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority's largest reservoir, according to Channel 11 News' exchange partner TribLIVE.

On Friday, a $791,000 cost overrun for Frank J. Zottola Construction was approved by the PWSA board of directors. The company is repairing a 60-inch main supplying the Lanpher Reservoir in Shaler, reports TribLIVE.

The overall cost of the project is about $2.5 million with the overrun cost, according to the TribLIVE.

The construction company discovered damages were worse than originally thought when the main that runs under Parker Street in Etna was exposed PWSA’s interim Executive Director Robert Weimar said.

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The 10-year-old pipe burst in February and allowed 10,000 gallons of water per minute into the Allegheny River. This threatened to drain the 133 million-gallon reservoir that provides water to North Side residents and businesses, according to TribLIVE.

"When we went to repair it, we found that the pipe instead of being only an 8-foot problem was a 300-foot problem," Weimar told TribLIVE.

A new section of the pipe is being installed inside the old one and workers must repair a 48-inch storm sewer line that runs next to the water main, reports TribLIVE.

Work on this project is expected to be finished by mid-June, PWSA interim Engineering Director Barry King said.

Part of the cost of the overrun was from damages caused to the storm sewer, said Weimar. The cost increase is also due to paying Etna and Shaler police to direct traffic on Parker Street, which has been closed since February, according to TribLIVE.

Police are stationed on the road from 12 to 24 hours a day while crews are working which have cost $261,478, according to King.

 

Cox Media Group

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