Major sewer upgrade work underway in Beechworth
9 June 2022
A new $4.5 million sewer upgrade project is underway in Beechworth which is designed to help resolve the town's sewer capacity issues during heavy rain storms.
North East Water is in the process of installing a four kilometre long sewer transfer pipe as well as a new pump station to address sewage overflows to the Beechworth Historic Park.
Executive Planning & Infrastructure Rebecca Jhonston said construction work is now around the halfway point.
“Our contractor has just finished a difficult one kilometre horizontal ‘long bore’ from the sewage treatment plant at Woolshed, under the Historic Park and through to Old Chiltern Road in Beechworth”, Ms Jhonston said.
“This was a monumental task which required drilling through some extremely hard granite.
“They have also just pulled a continuous segment of pipe back through the horizontal bore, with the pipe having to be welded together in large sections above ground before being pulled through.
“This piece of work is a great environmental outcome for the Historic Park as construction was only necessary at each end of the bore.
Ms Jhonston added, “The community will now see activity in the busier areas of town, with pipe work to soon begin along Last Street and Sydney Road.”
“There will be traffic management in place along the route involving partial road closures and speed restrictions.
“We are aiming to have this project completed by the end of the year, dependant on the weather.
“I would like to thank the community for their patience as we work to deliver this critical piece of infrastructure.”
Initial planning work has also commenced to upgrade the town’s sewage treatment plant which will be necessary to take extra flow from the new transfer main, as well as accommodate future population growth.
More information about this project is available here.