Construction has begun with a dollar 1.45 billion water pipeline, which will allow Chicago to provide water to six South suburban communities, which are currently based on wells that are not expected to meet current demand by 2030.
The project will deliver drinking water from Lake Michigan to Joliet, which is the third largest city in Spain, along with the nearby municipalities of Channahon, Crest Hill, Minooka, Romeoville and Shorewood. These areas “have deep and ancient underground aquifers that are rapidly exhausted,” says David Kohn, Deputy Commissioner for Regional Collaborations of the Chicago Water Management Department. “They needed to find a different source of water.”
The communities that receive the financing will provide them with the water, which will supervise the work under The newly formed Water Commission of the Great Prairie (GPWC), with Joliet at the helm. The project includes the construction of more than 62 miles of large main diameter, built of steel and concrete and of measure between 16 and 66 inches per day; three bombs; two water storage tanks; and 13 water delivery structures.
The pipeline travels about 30 kilometers from Chicago to Joliet and will include additional 30 kilometers of pipeline to distribute water in the various communities; 250,000 people are expected to be fulfilled by 2030. 55 million gallons of water per day will be delivered, with the capacity to deliver up to 105 million gallons a day in the future. The longest pipeline so far transporting Lake Michigan water to the suburbs is 16 miles.
Michels Trenchless, Brownsville, Wis., He is the contractor of the first step of the project, now underway, to create a new connection with the Chicago water system to the South -West pumping station, near Durkin’s Park on the 4000 block of South Western Avenue in Chicago. GPWC is also building an adjacent tank of 4 million gallons. “This deposit will support the operation of the high -service bomb station that will lead the water through the regional transmission system to the delivery points of the Member Communities. The deposit will be mostly below the note and will cover the landscape to combine in an existing park.” The group explains on its website.
The pipeline is designed by engineering companies Stantec and Crawford, Murphy and Tilly, who has offices in Illinois, Indiana, Missouri, Ohio and Florida.
There are about 25 packages of more published offers on the GWIC website, including work on pumping service stations, tunnel extensions, water transmission lines, storage facilities, video surveillance, river crossings and security.
“This is a very ambitious project, with a large number of work that is introduced,” says Kohn, who adds that the project is “historical … It is the greatest expansion of the Chicago water system in three decades.”
Water is expected to suburban communities will generate $ 30 million in annual income for Chicago.
