Werewolves and wastewater: Hespeler’s "Big Dig"

Fans of the werewolf-centred TV series Bitten will recognize the streets of Hespeler, Ont. passing for the fictional suburban town of Bear Valley.

After the Hespeler Big Dig, residents may not recognize their own town as it’s transformed by a refurbished streetscape underpinned by new sewer, water and wastewater infrastructure.

Hespeler is one of the former towns that makes up the City of Cambridge. It’s also a good example of participatory infrastructure planning.

"The collaborative model is a very positive approach," says Yogesh Shah, Cambridge director of engineering infrastructure.

"There was a lot of dialogue with the Hespeler Village Business Improvement Association (HVBIA) regarding the design of the project right from conception through the design phase. The primary idea behind the project was to improve the downtown area according to a streetscape plan produced for all of Cambridge by IBI Group. However, once we tore up the streets it would become much easier to replace the sewer and water infrastructure at the same time. We basically gave businesses the choice of several construction projects over the long term, or short-term pain for maximum gain."

Businesses voted for short-term pain, with the city accelerating four phases worth of sewer and water infrastructure construction into one season beginning May 15 and ending November 15.

Infrastructure work includes the replacement of 288 metres of watermain, 520 metres of sanitary sewer with upsized capacity; and 161 metres of storm sewer. About 70 per cent of the project runs through residential streets with the remaining portion running through the business area.

The city will also save money on a future upgrade of its Queen Street Pumping Station as the new upsized trunk sewer diverts wastewater away from the station.

Above ground, the end result will be upgraded sidewalks and landscaping, resurfaced roads, new streetlights, benches, trees, bike stands and decorative manhole covers.

Cambridge received just one bid of $6.2 million for the work from Sousa Construction. However, the city’s economic development department recommended the bid be accepted, in part because delaying the Hespeler project would delay subsequent projects and impact a large reunion festival scheduled for 2016. Also, construction of the Region of Waterloo’s Light Rail Transit project would likely drive bids higher this fall if the contract had been retendered.

Shah notes that street excavations are generally wide, but only two to three metres deep.

"There’s a lot of limestone and gravel down there," he says.

"But in many cases we’re using the channels cut into the limestone for the original pipe. In the case of sanitary sewer, we’re cutting them just a little deeper in some areas to accommodate greater flow for the gravity system."

Project execution is being divided into four phases of nine, seven, eight and six weeks, with the express goal of getting thoroughfares re-opened as quickly as possible.

Phase 1 of the project required the construction of 200 metres of trunk sanitary sewer and some rock removal, getting the most intense construction out of the way first.

Cambridge has maintained a commitment to provide support for businesses through the city’s business liaison officer. The city has also launched a detailed project web site, a Facebook page and a weekly construction newsletter outlining progress, closures and detours. The HVBIA has co-ordinated sales events and celebrations to mark the groundbreaking and completion of each project phase.

Construction recently continued on schedule around another television project, a TV adaptation of Stephen King bestseller "11/22/63" starring James Franco.

"We turned a one-way street, Adam Street, into a two-way street to accommodate the film crews," says Shah.

"That actually works well for us to provide emergency service access during other street closures, so we’ll be leaving the street that way for a while."