The construction is underway on the water intake project that will eventually shift Estevan’s primary water source from Boundary Dam to Rafferty Dam.
Shane Bucsis, the manager of the city’s water and wastewater treatment plants, said construction started March 5 on the pipeline that will carry the water from Rafferty Dam to the city’s water treatment plant. The construction is on schedule, and hasn’t encountered any significant problems.
“We had a couple of bad weather days, but other than that, the weather has been perfect for construction,” said Bucsis.
All of the engineering has been completed. A total of 1.6 kilometres of pipeline has already been buried into the ground, and crews will keep working until 6.2 kilometres of pipeline are installed as part of Phase 1, from the water treatment plant to an area west of Estevan along Highway 18.
“It’s a fairly straightforward process for building a pipeline,” said Bucsis. “It’s just a large volume. It’s the volume that takes a while.”
The major part of the pipeline work is expected to be finished by April 15. Tie-ins to the plant with the pipeline are part of Phase 1 as well, and are scheduled to be finished by May 31.
GCS Energy was awarded the tender for Phase 1 of the project earlier this year. Bucsis has been impressed with their work.
“They’re largely an energy company, but they have been very professional and very good to work with,” said Bucsis.
The weather has been the only hurdle, especially the first day of work on March 5, since blowing snow struck the region that day.
“The frost isn’t too deep, so they’re able to pick it once and remove it, remove the topsoil and dig down, and they’ve been moving along,” said Bucsis.
Phase 2 is to construct the intake structure and the pumphouse. Tenders are expected to go out in the spring, and construction will start in September.
Phase 3 will see the installation of eight more kilometres of pipeline from the pumphouse to where the existing pipeline ends west of Estevan. The tie-ins for the rest of the project are also slated to be completed next spring.
Bucsis is confident that the project will be finished in 2020. The project is being cost-shared with the provincial and federal governments.
The water intake project was supposed to start last year, but it was delayed when it came in over budget. It was broken up into smaller pieces, allowing them to bring the price down.
“Most of the hurdles and things like that have already been dealt with. Now that we have a plan, and it’s been successful so far with this phase in bringing the cost down,” said Bucsis.
He also applauded local motorists for the patience they have shown throughout the construction.
