RIVERVIEW PARK — Pittsburgh Water’s stream restoration project along Mairdale Avenue is roughly 50% complete, according to the design project manager, with work expected to complete around mid-November.
Project Manager Ana Bennett told The Chronicle that the stream restoration aspect of the project has been completed, affecting the main stream which runs along Mairdale Avenue and four tributaries.
“All of those have been officially completed and been restored,” she said.
Pittsburgh Water workers are now constructing weir walls — walls used to control the flow of water and manage flooding — and creating pools and stream beds to help mitigate overflow over the streams in case of heavy rainfall.
The project began in October with the goal of reducing the amount of sediment flowing into Pittsburgh’s sewers, as well as reducing sewer overflows. Bennett said that a lack of vegetation in Riverview Park has caused a “significant amount of soil” to flow into the sewer system during rainfall.
Further, she said the sewage system isn’t able to handle much rainfall before it begins to overflow. According to Bennett, it only takes more than 1/10th of an inch of rainfall to cause an overflow.
With the new safeguards put into place, excess water during rain will flow into a stormwater facility via a pipe that runs under Riverview Drive. This facility will hold back the water and release it into the sewer on a slow basis, helping to prevent overflows.
During the project, Riverview Drive has been closed. Bennett said the road will not reopen until the project totally wraps up in November, assuming everything stays on schedule.
Once complete, Bennett said the project should result in reduced maintenance needs to sewer systems affected by the sediment and excess overflows, and help reduce general flooding around the stream. As Pittsburgh Water will be planting around the restored streams, it will help contribute to a healthier ecosystem for the park’s forest.
Pittsburgh Water has been working with Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy, Friends of Riverview Park and the City of Pittsburgh in completing this project. The agency received funding from ALCOSAN and the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development.
Upon completion of the project, maintenance of the stormwater facility will be turned over to the City of Pittsburgh.
For more information about the project, visit pgh2o.com/projects-maintenance/search-all-projects/woods-run-stormwater-project-phase-two.
