Milwaukee Avenue Reconstruction

GRAEF designed the complete replacement of a portion of two existing storm sewer systems, to alleviate flooding problems in the neighborhoods along Milwaukee Avenue and protect the City’s investment in a new fire station near the intersection of Milwaukee Avenue and Underwood Avenue. The GRAEF team had to deal with many challenges to design a storm sewer system that was cost-effective, constructable, and coordinated with the roadway design. One of the more challenging aspects of the project was development of outfall designs that minimized scour and erosion at the Menomonee River.

The sewer project included 7,000 lineal feet of sewer, the construction of which had to be coordinated with Milwaukee Metro Sewerage District and the City’s overall sewer flow reduction plan to improve basement back-up occurrences. A 24-inch discharge pipe gathered two existing basin discharges into one. The remainder of the mainline system comprised 3,200 feet of 18-inch pipe and with smaller feeder sections.

The storm sewer system included two separate drainage basins; because of the extreme size and cost of the improvements, the City broke the construction effort into two phases. GRAEF designed the lower collection systems for the entire project.

The water distribution improvements included connection of two existing transmission mains, completing a south transmission system and allowing water to move about the east pressure zone more efficiently. The existing main was though to have lead joints and most of the services off of the main are lead, all of which were replaced with new copper service laterals.

GRAEF also designed a new loop in the system eliminating a long dead-end main. The overall length of improvements is approximately 4,100 lineal feet. This improvement should save money in pumping cost for the southern booster as it provides a much needed connection for the southwest corner of the City.