Bellwood Quarry Reservoir Project Approved by Atlanta City Council (lease, insuring)

[fourthwarden]

WSBTV News Story

ATLANTA — A century old granite quarry will no longer be a 400-foot deep hole in the ground.

The city of Atlanta will soon bore a five-mile long tunnel from the Chattahoochee River to fill the quarry with an estimated 2.5 billion gallons of water.

"Once we fill this quarry, we will be able to have a 30-day raw water supply, which can be extended to perhaps 60 or 90 days, if we use conservatively," said Atlanta Department of Watershed Management Commissioner Jo Ann Macrina.

The city of Atlanta purchased the Bellwood Quarry years ago with the intention of converting it into a water storage vessel.

Last week, the Atlanta City Council gave the green light for the $270 million project.

New pumping stations will be built to draw water through a 10-foot wide tunnel, 200 feet beneath the ground.

The tunnel will connect to the Hemphill Water Treatment Plant. A second tunnel will connect the plant to the quarry.

Currently, Atlanta only has a 3-day backup water supply in the event of a severe drought or emergency.

"By putting this tunnel in, the mayor is insuring we will have a minimum of 100 years of reliable water supply, and that could potentially stretch up to 200 years,” Macrina said.

Recent events, including river water contamination in West Virginia and drought in the western United States, underscore the critical need for a dependable emergency water supply, according to Macrina.

"Our last major drought was in 2008, and with climate variability, we don't know when another drought will hit us," Macrina said.

Once the tunnel is completed, it's expected to take two weeks to fill the quarry.

The new reservoir will anchor the planned West Side Reservoir Park, which will be linked to the Atlanta Beltline.

The depth of the reservoir will be anywhere from 250 to 300 feet deep.

"It's unbelievable. It's going to look like a lake. People won't know how deep it is. It's going to be real deep," said Atlanta Department of Watershed Management Field Engineer Nathaniel Greenhowe.

The first phase of the reservoir is scheduled for competition in 18 months. The reservoir is expected to be one of the largest urban storage reservoirs in the United States.

Awesome! I'm curious if any of the 270mil goes towards the park, or just converting the quarry into storage.

[JMatl]

Fantastic news!

[cwkimbro]

Well actually filling the reservoir is just $70m, the tunnel is $100m.

Litigation with Alabama is $70m and $30m for Florida.


Ok but seriously...

It is probably just for the reservoir. I partly second-guessing this. I figured since the other reservoir was already nearby they wouldn't need such an expensive long tunnel added in. I just figured it would take awhile to fill up during the wet months.

The issue is for reservoir and raw water capacity, this is actually a -very- expensive thing to do given the capacity. Creating a small lake further from the city would go much further. I remember reading up on the North Metro planning docs that just for water storage, this was extremely cost inefficient.

It makes me wonder how much it would cost to seal the quarry and direct rain water there to just use it as a park vs a reservoir and then work on building a typical reservoir outside the city with more capacity. I'm not sure how much cost that would reduce or not, but it could open up the lake to recreational functions too. I honestly don't know the answer to this.

[bu2]

Originally Posted by cwkimbro

Well actually filling the reservoir is just $70m, the tunnel is $100m.

Litigation with Alabama is $70m and $30m for Florida.


Ok but seriously...

It is probably just for the reservoir. I partly second-guessing this. I figured since the other reservoir was already nearby they wouldn't need such an expensive long tunnel added in. I just figured it would take awhile to fill up during the wet months.

The issue is for reservoir and raw water capacity, this is actually a -very- expensive thing to do given the capacity. Creating a small lake further from the city would go much further. I remember reading up on the North Metro planning docs that just for water storage, this was extremely cost inefficient.

It makes me wonder how much it would cost to seal the quarry and direct rain water there to just use it as a park vs a reservoir and then work on building a typical reservoir outside the city with more capacity. I'm not sure how much cost that would reduce or not, but it could open up the lake to recreational functions too. I honestly don't know the answer to this.

Wonder if people will dive there.

[fourthwarden]

Originally Posted by bu2

Wonder if people will dive there.

Probably not, at least, not for recreation. The artile talks about how this will be a clean water storage site for water that's been treated from the 'Hooch. In all the plans i've seen, the rim of the quarry is fenced. Allowing people to swim/dive in it without official reason is probably off the table.

[cqholt]

Crews have started blasting the rock in preparation for the tunnel project.
http://www.myajc.com/news/news/local...project/nqt2Q/

[arjay57]

Good project but why are we buying the machine?

[cqholt]

Originally Posted by arjay57

Good project but why are we buying the machine?

Streetcar and bicycle tunnels.

[jsvh]

Originally Posted by arjay57

Good project but why are we buying the machine?

Agreed. I don't think it is something the city needs to keep around. But my guess is since it is being custom built for this project we keep it. It's like if you wanted a heavily customised car. The dealer is probably not going to let you lease it, you would have to buy it.

Originally Posted by cqholt

Streetcar and bicycle tunnels.

I don't think the 10 foot diameter that this machine bores will be enough for LRT, and probably not even a bike / ped path of any real width.

[red92s]

Originally Posted by arjay57

Good project but why are we buying the machine?

It's a purpose-built piece of heavy equipment that would require total reconditioning and/or extensive modifications to be put back into service when the project is complete. What's the alternative to the city buying it? Having the contractor buy it and pass the cost along to you with a markup? It's not like you can lease or rent something that specialized.