Lift Station 87 sees new delays

After taking a step forward earlier this month, project leaders revealed Monday that the completion of Lift Station 87 could still be more than three years away — leaving nearby residents resigned to a fate of more construction.

That timeline — which would push the completion date into 2018 — represents a potential two-year delay from the targeted January 2016 completion. It would require the city to once again receive an extension to a state Department of Environmental Protection order, which mandates the project’s completion by May 2016.

Robert Garland, the project manager with engineering firm McKim & Creed, said the group had an opportunity to revisit its timeline as the design of the facility was revised. The revisions to the schedule are largely attributable to a segmented plan to complete the lift station in three phases.

Before beginning work on the construction of the lift station, the group will ensure it can complete the microtunneling efforts beneath the Hudson Bayou that caused earlier project delays.

“We want to demonstrate we’re successful at that before we invest the remainder of the money on the project,” Garland said. “I think it’s crucial to demonstrate the crossing can be done.”

Likewise, before installing a crucial gravity sewer, McKim & Creed will wait to ensure the lift station work is going well. Some work can be done concurrently, but the phasing will extend the process.

David Coe, a resident of the nearby Central Park II condominiums, said the delay didn’t come as a shock, given how many issues McKim & Creed had to correct. Although residents in the area would be affected, he recognized that the facility — which will handle one-third of the city’s wastewater — needed to move forward.

“I think we’re hardly surprised,” Coe said. “It’s disappointing, especially since they’ve got to start by doing more demolition.”

Since McKim & Creed took over, the project completion date has been adjusted from November 2015 to January 2016. The consent order from the Department of Environmental Protection, originally issued in 2006, has been amended three times to push back the deadline. The project, approved in 2008, was originally slated for completion in 2011.

Garland declined to speculate on an updated completion date for Lift Station 87. Project leaders should have a more specific timeline next month, he said.