The Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority broke ground on four stormwater projects this summer. These projects will more effectively manage stormwater by reducing the amount of rain that enters our sewer system during intense and heavy storms. By using green infrastructure such as vegetated planters, dry stream bed channels lined with gravel, and stone and gravel storage we can work towards reducing basement backups and overflows of combined sewage and stormwater to the rivers. We are also rehabilitating a century-old sewer outfall along the Monongahela River, which is part of the larger Four Mile Run Stormwater Project. These projects, along with the rehabilitation of aging sewer pipes will strengthen our sewer system, better protect residents from flooding, and reduce pollution in our rivers and streams.   

This huge excavation along Woodland Road, on Chatham University’s Shadyside campus, is for underground storage tanks, which will slow the flow of rainwater from storms into our overhelmed sewer system. A dry stream bed with vegetation will also be installed above ground. Learn more at Pgh2o.com/woodland-road.

Construction crews are installing a system of catch basins, pipes, and underground gravel layers on Thomas Boulevard in North Point Breeze. The system will capture and hold rainwater during a storm, then drain back into the sewer system afterward. Learn more at Pgh2o.com/thomas-mcpherson. 

Near Wightman Park in Squirrel Hill, construction crews have been forming concrete bump-out planters next to sidewalks to capture stormwater and increase pedestrian safety. When finished, the deep planter boxes will be filled with soil and vegetation, and will help carry stormwater to the new underground storage tanks in Wightman Park. Learn more at Pgh2o.com/wightman-park-2.

We recently completed the first permeable paver parking lane for the Maryland Avenue Stormwater Project in Shadyside. The pavers, which were installed on the south 5800 block of Kentucky Ave, allow rainwater to pass through their cracks into layers of gravel and pipe storage below. Learn more at Pgh2o.com/maryland-ave.