Stewart Avenue Lift Station and Sewer System Planning
CLIENT: City of Wausau, WI
Pumps at both the 72nd Avenue and Industrial Park lift stations sometimes overloaded during wet-weather events. These two stations serve a large portion of the west side of the City, which includes the Wausau Business Campus and many large industrial customers. City staff had invested significant time in maintaining the sewers and force mains associated with the stations. Sanitary sewer systems are expected to function properly 100% of the time. Customers should never have to think about the system. The City was ready to invest in a proactive rehabilitation and maintenance plan to preserve an environment that promotes health, wellbeing, and safety.
The existing lift station was housed in a deteriorating wood-frame shed in front of the DPI facility. An improved building with low-maintenance exterior finishes was specifically chosen to match the renovated DPI facility.
Clark Dietz aided the planning effort by preparing a service area planning study, sanitary sewer and lift station capacity analysis, a development flow analysis, and force main feasibility analysis. Based on these studies, a completely new station was designed to replace the existing 72nd Avenue station, including a new force main and interceptor sewer from the 72nd Avenue lift station to the Industrial Park station. The new force main and interceptor sewer were sized to handle the expected 20-year design flow from the 72nd Avenue lift station service area. At the Industrial Park lift station, Clark Dietz selected three new pumps to be installed in the existing station. For both stations, the lift station equipment was selected for energy efficiency. Improvements were made while avoiding wetlands and a railroad right-of-way.
These long-term solutions will serve the City of Wausau for many years. The City of Wausau staff no longer wonder whether the stations can handle heavy rain events. The new pumps have handled the high flows of last year’s very wet summer and autumn. The success is in how Clark Dietz looked at the project beyond the initially stated replacement, and further into conveyance, aesthetics, and future impacts.
Now Clark Dietz has become a trusted consultant that the City regularly relies on for assistance. Finding sound technical solutions is an engineer’s responsibility, but the needs and difficulties expressed by clients must be heard. Clients bear the ultimate responsibility for maintaining a high level of service in their communities. Actively engaging with them in the process helps make their communities a better place to live.
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