The purpose of these grants is to assist the City-Parish in evaluating the condition of the sewerage system and to provide funding for capital improvements. An outside engineering firm was engaged by the City-Parish to develop the SSO Corrective Action Plan. The contract required the firm to develop a computer model of the main gravity sewer system to enable engineers to project where sewer overflows will occur under various wet weather conditions. This was necessary in order to have the appropriate data available to recommend solutions through future improvement projects. The study indicated that SSO problems are caused by a combination of inadequate system maintenance and insufficient conveyance capacity during wet weather conditions.
Sufficient capacity does exist within the system to handle all dry weather flows.
Annual appropriations in succeeding fiscal years will be made to continue this program. Sewer Rehabilitation - Rehabilitate existing sewer infrastructure in isolated areas. Capital Improvements - Construct facilities to contain overflows until they can be released into the system for treatment. The objective is to avoid overloading the treatment plants during peak flow conditions. During 1999, the Department of Public Works engaged the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to perform a value engineering study of the various SSO Capital Improvement Plans to find the plan that would be most cost efficient for the citizens of East Baton Rouge Parish.