April 2004--Passero Associates was recently honored to receive a “Project of the Year” award from the Monroe County Genesee Valley Branch of the American Public Works Association (APWA) for the Webster Sandbar Sewer and Water Extension. The award was in the $2 to $10 million Environmental Projects category. Award recipients included project partners: the Town of Webster, the Monroe County Department of Environmental Services – Pure Waters Department, the Monroe County Water Authority; and private sector participants Passero Associates for engineering design and construction management, and Villager Construction as the primary contractor.

The Webster Sandbar Sewer and Watermain Extension is the result of a collaborative effort between the Town and the County to provide sewer and water facilities to the Sandbar area and to protect its unique environmental features. The Sandbar is a picturesque area approximately one mile in length at the Ontario Lake inlet to Irondequoit Bay. Over 200 residential and commercial properties, many of which were on were on troublesome private septic systems, benefit from the new public sanitary sewer. The sewer also eliminates the flow of untreated sewage into Irondequoit Bay and Lake Ontario, ends possible contamination of the groundwater, and improves the natural ecosystem of the area. The project required the latest pipeline installation methods to overcome the numerous challenges encountered along the Sandbar.

The Sandbar sewer and watermain project was a culmination of several years of planning and studies. Monroe County Pure Waters had sought a way to convey sewage from 1500 units in their Penfield service area to the Van Lare WWTP where it could be treated more economically. Webster studied ways it could extend sanitary sewers to the sandbar in a way it would be affordable for the property owners. MCWA wanted to improve its domestic and fire-fighting services to the sandbar area. In 2000, the three agencies saw the benefits of collaborating on the project to achieve their objectives more cost-effectively versus doing it independently.

The project consisted of the construction of two (2) pump stations and approximately 5,600 LF of 12'' HDPE force main to convey the flow collected in Webster and Penfield to the MCPW interceptor in Irondequoit. The MCPW pump station is a duplex submersible design with two 50 HP pumps capable of delivering 1200 gpm at 90' of head. The Webster pump station which collects flow from the western half of the Sandbar and pumps it to MCPW PS is a duplex self-priming 10 HP pumps capable of delivering 100 gpm at 69' of head. The project also included the installation of approximately 10,100 LF of 8''-15'' PVC gravity sewer main and 4'' PVC sanitary laterals to provide service connections to approximately 200 properties. The project utilized several best management practices to minimize impact on sensitive environmental areas from construction through use of directional drilling, dewatering and sewer boring technologies. Road pavement, driveways and lawn areas that were disturbed were restored to match original conditions. All proposed work was performed within public right-of-ways and easements which the Town and County acquired.

The Sandbar area contains several significant environmental areas which required extensive deliberations with permit agencies to demonstrate that the project properly addressed these issues. Among the environmental features in the project area are wetlands, coastal hazards areas, flood zones, fish and wildlife habitat and archaeological sites. During the design process, the engineering consultant met with the sixteen review agencies involved to arrive at the best solution which caused the least impact to these areas while achieving the project goal of eliminating discharge of sewage to Lake Ontario and Irondequoit Bay.

The construction cost for the project was $4.4 million. The funding for this project was obtained via the following sources: State’s EFC Revolving Loans of $1 million for the Town of Webster and $2.5 million for MCPW, $500,000 cash capital from MCWA; and the State’s Clean Water Bond Act grant for $500,000.

The construction contract was awarded to Villager Construction in September 2002. Villager was given a notice to proceed in November 2002. Villager continued work on the project through one of the harshest winters in recent memory and completed the project in December 2003. The sewer system is now fully operational.