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Project Updates
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NEWS Keep informed about the latest project news, construction
updates, and community event information by checking back regularly
for updates to this page. Aurora Water sets last piece of pipe for Prairie Waters Project Workers placed the last piece of Aurora's Prairie Water Project supply pipe on Thursday, February 11, 2010, nearly 2 years after pipeline construction began. The Prairie Waters Project will help drought-harden the city beginning in 2011. Workers lowered the final piece of 60 inch concrete-lined steel pipe with a crane into a 10-foot deep trench near the Aurora Reservoir and welded it into place. In total, workers installed 34 miles of 60-inch pipe from Weld County to the Aurora Reservoir. "This moment is more than the end of major activities for the conveyance pipeline," said Darrell Hogan, Prairie Waters Project Program Director. "This marks a beginning for our final push to conclude construction activities by the end of the year. The project is on schedule and projected to be under budget." The project broke ground in July of 2007 as work began on the Peter D. Binney Water Purification Facility, located north of the Aurora Reservoir. Pipeline activities began in March of 2008 to connect the North Campus, a natural purification area located along the South Platte River north of Brighton, to the new water purification facility. The completed pipeline will initially allow for 10,000 acre-feet of water to be delivered to Aurora. Overall, the Prairie Waters Project is 88 percent complete. By May, work is scheduled to conclude on the projects three pumping stations. Workers will then begin testing the conveyance system and delivering water to the new treatment facility. The Prairie Waters Project is the fastest, cost-effective and environmentally sustainable way to enhance Aurora's water supply. During 2003, the city had less than a 9 month supply of water due to a prolonged drought. To protect Aurora from future drought impacts, the Prairie Waters Project was developed to utilize existing return flows from its transbasin diversions and transferred agriculture rights. Purification Facility Progress Shining Bright A new light is shining on the outstanding progress at the Prairie Waters Project Peter D. Binney Water Purification Facility and its powered by UV. Crews spent the past two months installing each of the approximately 4-foot-long UV lamps, specially designed quartz sleeves, and electrical components into the UV generators. In total, 6,912 lamps and associated components were installed at the UV building. Now that the generators are equipped, workers will continue with tying the UV system into the rest the water purification facility and begin testing equipment. Once operational, high intensity ultraviolet rays will destroy unwanted contaminants, including trace amounts of chemical, viruses and other compounds.
PWP Crosses the Platte, Connect into Tunnel In June of 2009, pipeline crews finished connecting into the South Platte River tunnel, one of more than 20 tunnel crossings for the Prairie Waters Project. Tunneling work for the project is nearly complete, as workers continue to install the remaining pipeline segments and connect into the last tunnel areas. One of the most challenging milestones for the project was successfully completed March 20 as construction crews broke through the bedrock on the east side of the South Platte River with their tunneling equipment to complete the challenging river crossing. A crew of about 10 worked 12-hour shifts drilling a 78-inch diameter hole through the bedrock under the river in only 7 days. While the Prairie Waters Project has many tunnels under jurisdictional waterways, the South Platte River crossing was most challenging because at about 260 feet long it is not only the longest waterway crossing, but is also one of the most sensitive environmental areas. Engineers, designers, permit, land and environmental specialists as well as construction crews and management staff collaborated closely through the planning and construction of the tunnel to make sure operations ran smoothly, did not experience delays and protected sensitive wetland areas. Ultraviolet Equipment Delivered to PBWPF Workers at the Peter D. Binney Water Purification Facility (PBWPF) received a special delivery in January of 2009 as a convoy of semis began arriving at the site with ultraviolet generators and associated equipment for the new treatment plant. |
