By Lynda Myer
The significant five-year water supply program project that was aimed to help the City of Atlanta to secure a water suppling plan for the first time in its history, is completed according to PC Construction and its joint venture partner, H.J. Russell statement.
While this $321 million project is the largest water supply project the State of Georgia has ever assumed, it is going to provide the City’s drinking water for the next 100 years and increase the emergency raw water stock from three days to more than 30 days.
PC President and CEO Jay Fayette, stated: “A guaranteed, safe water supply is a critical component of economic growth, and this was particularly the case for Atlanta.”
According to the US Census, Atlanta was the fourth fastest growing metropolitan area in the country between 2010 and 2019. The city also hosts the world’s largest passenger airport. PC company also asserted: “When you look at it in this context, these water infrastructure upgrades are tremendously important. PC is proud to play a role in helping cities position themselves well for the future.”
Due to the consequences of this project, which cause putting the city in a situation of strength and let for a significant expansion of its water reserve, some representatives from the City of Atlanta believe that the five-year project is the most rational project implemented by the City’s Department of Watershed Management.
The first step of this project was to convert an available 400-foot-deep rock quarry to a 2.4-billion-gallon raw water reservoir system in 2015.Next step was digging a 5-mile with10-ft diameter tunnel using “Driller Mike” (a tunnel boring machine). That tunnel will secure accessibility of inhabitants and businesses to pure and safe drinking water especially during drought conditions and emergencies, by linking the quarry to two new pumping stations and 11 deep shafts.
