Drysdale upgrade ahead of time

WORK on the Drysdale stormwater drainage upgrade is ahead of schedule, with completion expected in early December.

City chief executive Stephen Griffin said the project had been pushed ahead as a council priority.

‘‘ It is an expensive project, with a budget of around $2.5 million to cover the cost of laying around 1km of new, large-diameter stormwater drainage pipes, and the installation of a number of high capacity drainage pits,’’ he said.

Mr Griffin said that as part of the original subdivision back in the middle of last century, the private developers had installed stormwater drainage in accordance with the standards of the time, which was now inadequate for the task.

He said because of the shape of the land there, the excavations for the new drainage extended in some areas to a depth of more than 7m.

‘‘ This has posed a number of challenges for the project engineers, but these have been overcome, and the disruption to the local residents and traders has been kept to the lowest levels possible,’’ he said.

‘‘Some road closures have been necessary, but these have been kept to an absolute minimum.’’

The chief executive said that with the excavations progressing i n 50m blocks, the affected sections of roadway had been fully reopened as soon as each 50m section was completed.

‘‘ We anticipate that the new drainage pipes, measuring between 1m and 1.2m in diameter, w i l l be more t han capable of coping with the future flood flows generated by extreme rain events,’’ he said.

Mr Griffin paid tribute to the patience and co- operation of local residents and traders.

He said the residents and traders had acknowledged the importance of the project and had done everything they could to work around it.

The chief executive said plans were nearing completion for some new landscaping to be carried out in the areas where the excavations had taken place.