HOUSTON, TX — The City of Houston selected planning, engineering, and program management firm Lockwood, Andrews & Newnam, Inc. (LAN) to design a new sewer line that will divert wastewater from the Imperial Valley Wastewater Treatment Plant to the Northgate Regional Lift Station.

The project is part of the city’s overall plan to reduce its operational and maintenance costs by consolidating 39 wastewater treatment plants and more than 380 lift station facilities. This project will decommission the 4 million gallons a day (MGD) Imperial Valley Wastewater Treatment Plant.

The $30-million project consists of approximately 13,000 linear feet of 36-inch sanitary sewer line that will divert more than 9 MGD of wastewater. As part of the project, LAN will identify alternative routes, critical design aspects, bypass pumping plans, preliminary construction costs, constructability issues, and construction phasing. In conjunction, LAN will analyze and identify if there is an efficient and cost-effective method to abandon the Aldine Bender and Northbelt lift stations, to further consolidation efforts.

“With the new sewer line, the city will have a reliable infrastructure to serve the community for the foreseeable future,” said Stephen A. Gilbreath, PE, LAN Senior Associate and Team Leader. “Additionally, diverting the flows and decommissioning these facilities will save costs in the long run and should lead to more economic development in the area.”

Other firms involved in the project include KUO & Associates, Inc. for surveying, Associated Testing Laboratories, Inc. for environmental and geotechnical engineering, ASV Consulting Group, Inc. for subsurface utility engineering, and EJES, Inc. for engineering design support. Design of the project is expected to be completed by the end of 2022 with construction anticipated to be completed in summer 2025.