Program Information
The City of Baton Rouge, Parish of East Baton Rouge (C-P) contracted CH2M HILL in 2006 to prepare a Program Delivery Plan (PDP) that summarizes the Sewer System Overflow (SSO) Control and Wastewater Facilities Program. The original PDP was published in January 2008 with the most recent iteration published in 2017, which can be accessed here. This PDP incorporates changes and reflects the extensive design and construction progress made since the onset of the program.
To track the more than 115 projects included in the SSO Program, a Program Status Report (PSR) is used to identify projects in one of the following categories:
- In design;
- In construction; or
- Functionally complete.
A project is deemed “Functionally Complete” when a project has been constructed in accordance with the engineering and operation specifications and has been tested to function as required. The definition functionally complete may or may not mean that the asset has been put into service as designed, depending on connectivity to other relying projects, but generally does not cover the completeness of non-wastewater collection, transmission, storage, or treatment components such as restoration, clean-up, and final contract close-out.
The Program is divided into the following three wet weather components:
- Comprehensive rehabilitation projects
- Capacity improvement projects
- Wastewater treatment and storage improvements
Comprehensive Rehabilitation Projects
Areas targeted for sewer pipe rehabilitation work are those in which flow monitoring has indicated the highest levels of inflow and infiltration (I/I). Comprehensive rehabilitation projects are being implemented using a process developed and implemented by the Program Manager (PM) in association with Department of Environmental Services technical staff. The I/I reduction plan for these projects has the following goals:
- Identify and reduce stormwater inflow sources into sanitary sewers
- Identify and reduce rainfall dependent infiltration (RDI) sources in sanitary sewers
- Reduce overflow events
- Increase the sewer system useful life
- Minimize public inconvenience
The process chosen for rehabilitation and/or reconstruction is generally referred to as “Find and Fix.” As the process description suggests, there are two phases to this process. The first phase identifies areas that require rehabilitation or reconstruction and the second phase determines the best engineering solution to fix the problem. After the “Find” phase, some portions of the system will have been identified as not requiring rehabilitation. In those portions of the system, the Engineer will recommend “No Action.”
Capacity Improvement Projects
Capacity improvement projects will reduce hydraulic bottlenecks in the system and convey wet weather flows to new upstream storage facilities and ultimately to the WWTPs. These projects include the installation of larger pipes or the construction of parallel pipes to increase conveyance capacity, as well as the replacement of pump stations to handle future wet weather peak flows.
Wastewater Treatment Improvement/Storage Projects
Design and construction of WWTP wet weather improvement projects were scheduled to occur early in the program to store and treat wet weather flows. Wastewater treatment projects at the South WWTP include the following:
- Immediate Action Projects (IAPs) for dry weather permit compliance
- Consolidation with the Central WWTP
- Wet weather flow capacity increases to 200 million gallons per day (MGD) with hydraulic peak shaving
- Master Plan improvements
The South WWTP IAPs and other South WWTP projects, including Master Plan improvements that were included in the Phase 2 project, are incorporated in this document and are part of the RMAP2 projects. These projects are currently functionally complete. There are no current capacity improvements required at the North WWTP, so there are no wet weather (RMAP2) projects included in this report for that facility. However, there are several improvements needed at the North WWTP due to the age of the treatment plant, and those improvements are now included in the RMAP2. Storage projects were designed and constructed early in the program to allow storage of wet weather flows in upstream basins. These flows will be released back into the system after the wet weather event has passed. Storage facilities will be sized to store the peak flow from a 2-year frequency, 12-hour duration storm event, assuming rehabilitation projects are complete.
Program Costs
The estimated total cost of the RMAP2 projects, including design engineering, land acquisition, construction, construction inspection, and construction engineering, is approximately $1.6 billion. The RMAP2 projects have milestones that are included in the Consent Decree, with all projects required to be functionally complete and operational by January 1, 2019. An additional eight Supplemental projects have been included in this PDP at an estimated total cost of $141 million. These Supplemental projects were included as additional projects to the RMAP2 in the Consent Decree modification (Civil Action 01-978 BAJ-SCR) that was signed in June 2013, but these projects do not have milestones associated with them. The combined estimated cost of the RMAP2, Supplemental projects, and program administration, is approximately $1.641 billion.