Mulberry Creek Sanitary Relief (12355)

As part of a long-term effort to reduce basement backups and sewer overflows, MSD Project Clear is designing a project to construct approximately 4,200 feet of wastewater pipe in the Cities of Crestwood and Sunset Hills. The project is estimated to begin construction as early as the Winter of 2024.

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As part of their evaluation, our team of engineers determined that the sewer in this neighborhood is undersized. During intense rainfall, the sewers become overloaded leading to basement backups and wastewater overflows into Mulberry Creek.

MSD Project Clear is investing approximately $4 million to design and construct this project to increase the size of the existing sewer. This will reduce the likelihood of basement backups during heavy rainfall and prevent untreated wastewater from spilling into local waterways.

• Construction is estimated to begin as early as Winter 2024
• MSD Project Clear will replace approximately 4,200 feet of wastewater pipe
• The pipe size will increase to between 8 and 24-inches in diameter allowing a larger amount of wastewater to flow through the system.
• This project will remove one known overflow, which is a point where untreated wastewater spills from the sewer during heavy rain.

Though construction for this project is not estimated to begin until at least Winter of 2024, it is important to be prepared for what to expect. Starting in the Winter of 2022, residents whose property will need to be accessed to construct the project will be contacted in order to obtain necessary easements.

At this time, MSD Project Clear anticipates the contractor will use two methods to construct the project. Most of the project will likely be constructed by digging through the surface of the ground in a process known as “open-cut” construction. In areas with utility conflicts, traffic control issues, or general access concerns, the contractor will likely use tunneling, which allows them to lay pipe with minimal disruption to the surface. Tunneling will be used to cross Lindbergh Boulevard to minimize traffic disturbance along this MoDOT roadway; to cross Eddie and Park Road to avoid large utilities; and to cross a large storm sewer culvert in Harwich Drive.

Traffic and Access: Because much of the construction will take place in the roadway, residents should expect lane closures and possible changes to traffic patterns.

The contractor will follow all local ordinances and will notify all properties of any temporary access restrictions. In areas where open-cut construction will be used, there will be periods when driveways may be inaccessible. The contractor will give all property owners ample notification prior to any access restrictions.

With any type of construction, residents can expect to see and hear heavy equipment and significant volumes of truck traffic during the sewer excavation process. The pictures above depict what a neighborhood will look like before, during, and after a typical project.

Sewer Service: While MSD’s contractor is connecting a home’s lateral to the new wastewater sewer, they may ask residents to limit water use. In general, this process can take between two to five hours, depending on the complexity of the connection. The contractor will notify property owners in advance.

MSD does not anticipate other utility services being disrupted during this project. We will work with Missouri One Call to locate utilities before beginning construction. Occasionally, the contractor may run into utilities that were not located by Missouri One Call which could result in temporary utility disruptions. If this happens, MSD will work with the utility to restore service as quickly as possible.

Project Clean-Up and Restoration: After all new sewer pipes are installed, the contractor will restore the construction site according to all local and District requirements. This could include sodding any disturbed areas, replacing disturbed pavement, reinstalling fences, etc.

At least one MSD Inspector will be on-site part of the day for every day the contractor is working.

This is the current tentative project schedule. This is subject to change based on a variety of factors including weather.

• Complete Project Design: Late Summer 2022
• Easement acquisition completion: Late Summer 2023
• Estimated construction start: Winter 2024
• Estimated project duration: 27-36 months

FAQs section will be updated as questions are sent in to the Project Manager.

This section will be updated with additional documents as they become available.

(Please mention the Project Number: 12355)

Sam Bush, MSD Project Manager
sbush1@stlmsd.com 
314-768-2778