The City of Tulsa has begun work on a new sewer pipeline crossing the Arkansas River, to increase capacity going into the treatment plant that handles most of central Tulsa.

A new 42” pipe will supplement two existing 36” pipes installed in the 1950’s.

All of the wastewater from 11th to 71st, and from the River to Yale, flows through two pipes at 54th and Riverside. A new pipe will add capacity that’s critical during heavy rain, when infiltration can overwhelm the current system.

“This is a solution to handle the peak wet weather flow, but we have side benefits of redundancy, and we have growth in our city," Tom Prag, the Project Manager for the City of Tulsa, said.

The massive hole where the work is starting is 30 feet deep. Two excavators are down in the hole, with one sitting on top of the concrete cap covering the existing pipes.

In September, they'll start digging a trench across the river from east to west and connect to the treatment plant on the west bank.

“It’s not just the third pipe, for all pipes to run at all times, it's for redundancy if we have to take one out of service. Right now, the two 36" pipes run full all the time,” said Prag.