Sewage plant upgrade on budget despite two-year delay

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This article was published 16/01/2017 (3499 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A $336-million upgrade to the south end sewage treatment plant is on budget but two years behind schedule.

Officials from the water and waste department told the finance committee Monday that a series of setbacks have pushed the project’s completion date from 2019 to 2021.

Geoff Patton, the department’s manager of engineering, said the delays are unavoidable but added they’re not expected to increase the cost of the project.

The south end plant is being upgraded to handle additional effluent flows and to meet stringent new provincial regulations for phosphorous and nitrogen discharges into the Red River.

Patton said a one-year delay was caused by the failure of the engineering consulting firm working on the project to submit drawings within the expected timeline.

The firm presented the department with a 4,000-page report, including 1,700 technical drawings on Dec. 24, Patton said, adding the report must be closely vetted before any contracts can be put out for tender.

Patton said another year’s delay has been caused by the need to review the proposed change in the construction schedule.

While project delays usually result in contract increases, Patton said the department has been talking to construction firms eager for the work and it doesn’t seem likely the estimates will vary much.

The project’s estimated price tag of $336 million includes a range of between $269.5 million and $436.3 million.

aldo.santin@freepress.mb.ca