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Cost of Whitney-Tisdale sewer system upgrades could be going up

Scope change would add more than $585K to project
2018-07-23 pumping station MH
Work on the Whitney Pumping Station 4 started in 2014. Maija Hoggett/TimminsToday

City staff is asking for scope changes for the Whitney-Tisdale sanitary sewer upgrades.

If approved, it will mean another increase for the cost of the project. 

Timmins council is meeting tonight, and the agenda includes a request for scope changes to both phases of the project. It would increase the cost of the project by $585,454 plus HST. 

According to the report, the additional costs for phase one at pumping station four are: $63,889 for preliminary design of foundation remediation, $48,851 for consolidation testing of foundation remediation, and $266,714 for detailed design of foundation remediation. There is also $206,000 for construction assistance on phase two, which includes pumping stations 1, 2, 3, 5 and 6.

The staff report notes the figure doesn't include construction help for remediation work at pumping station one. Those costs are to be determined.

In April 2018, council approved the $16.6-million project to upgrade the mechanical, electrical and instrumentation systems, along with other work at the stations.

It's the second part of a two-phase project to upgrade the system servicing Porcupine and South Porcupine.

At that time, work was expected to start concurrently at pumping stations six, five and two last fall. In the spring/summer this year work should start at stations three and one. A new sewage forcemain would then be installed between stations three and four in the winter of 2019-2020.

While the project increases the pump capacity at the stations, it won’t eliminate raw sewage being bypassed into Porcupine Lake.

The first phase of the project is building Pumping Station 4 and installing two stormwater equalization tanks, both of which are located on Highway 101 just east of the Whitney Arena, and upgrading force mains.

Work on phase one started in 2014, however ground-settling and legal issues have contributed to it not yet being completed.

At a special meeting in July 2018, more than $260,000 was approved for increased construction costs and a geotechnical investigation at pump station four.

The council meeting starts at 6 p.m. April 23 in council chambers. The staff report on the scope change is available here.