Toby Creek Outfall Progressive Design Build

The combination of Charlotte’s light rail Blue Line Extension and population densification in the corridor has caused strain on the local wastewater infrastructure. We partnered with RH Price on a progressive design-build project to design and construct 18,000 LF of 30- to 42-inch gravity sewer around the University of North Carolina at Charlotte (UNC-Charlotte), a solution that would alleviate wastewater infrastructure stresses.

This project had many inherent challenges—from other concurrent projects to wetlands to navigating access to work zone schedule limitations with UNC-Charlotte’s academic calendar. Finding the right solution meant that we had to consider multiple options for the design, each option balancing capital costs, maintenance costs, construction difficulty, environmental impacts, and public impacts. All in all, the project included extensive basin flow modeling, condition assessment and rehabilitation, trench design and pipe selection, and trenchless crossings of a North Carolina Department of Transportation interchange and UNC-Charlotte roadways.

We also coordinated with multiple public and private entities related to UNC-Charlotte property, conducted park, greenway, and stream restoration, and managed permitting. With this new sewer infrastructure in place, the corridor around the new Blue Line Extension can continue to grow and thrive, without worry about overtaxing their wastewater infrastructure.