The City of Melbourne is undergoing an $80 million upgrade to its sewerage network, with the latest stage of the project including installing a new 700m-long sewer under part of Elizabeth Street and the third stage set to begin in March 2023.
Micro-tunnelling specialist, Rob Carr, has been contracted to deliver the project, which will create 28 new jobs over the life of the build.
Greater Western Water’s General Manager Growth and Infrastructure, Amanda Smith, said the Elizabeth Street upgrade was stage three of four in a program to expand Melbourne CBD’s sewer system capacity to meet demand.
“With the existing sewer network over 120 years old, we’re delivering more capacity to future-proof the system and support the city’s expected growth,” Ms Smith said.
Ms Smith said construction will at times cause inconvenience and Greater Western Water had undertaken extensive planning to minimise the impact of disruptions on retail businesses, residents, and city visitors.
“With a large number of construction projects underway in and around Melbourne’s CBD, we have worked with our partners and stakeholders to consider overall impacts, Ms Smith said.
“We’ll be keeping people well informed of temporary changes and, importantly, water or sewerage services will not be impacted while work is in progress.”
Construction will progressively move north along Elizabeth Street, starting between Lonsdale Street and Little Lonsdale Street.
To ensure the works are delivered safely, some lane closures and parking restrictions will apply around work sites.
The works follow the successful completion of two new sewers under Spencer Street and Lonsdale Street in the last five years.
The Elizabeth Street Sewer Upgrade project will be completed by late 2023 and will link with the Lonsdale Street sewer completed in September 2021.
The fourth and final stage of the upgrade will be along Siddeley Street in Docklands, with construction scheduled to commence late 2024.
