Today, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Chicago District, Rep. Frank J. Mrvan (IN-1), and Gary Mayor Jerome Prince marked the beginning of a Gary force main replacement project.
“Infrastructure projects like these are important in getting the attention of residential and business developers,” Mayor Prince said. “As always, we’re thankful for the great assistance from Congressman Mrvan and all of our partners.”
The project will address sanitary sewer force main improvements on publicly-owned property east of Chase Street between the Chase Street pump station and 25th Avenue within Gary, Indiana. The project includes installing approximately 1,900 feet of new 48-inch diameter force main, of which 300 feet will cross under I-80.
“It is great to come together to mark the start of construction on this project,” Col. Paul Culberson, USACE Chicago District commander, said. “Infrastructure improvement projects are the result of partnerships and Gary has been a great partner to the Corps. In total, we have completed 13 Section 219 projects in Gary, and we look forward to many more.”
The contract was awarded to Grimmer Construction, Inc. of Highland, Indiana, in September 2021 for $4,114,313. Field construction started in March 2022.
The project is authorized under Section 219 of the Water Resources Development Act 1992, as amended by Section 504 of WRDA 1996, Section 502 of WRDA 1999, and by Section 108 of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2001. Section 219, as amended, allows USACE to provide planning, design, and construction assistance for carrying out water-related environmental infrastructure projects in select areas. Projects under this authority are cost shared at 75 percent federal and 25 percent nonfederal sponsor. This project has been allocated $3,624,419.25 of federal funding. The nonfederal sponsor, the City of Gary, provided a 25% cash match of $1,199,805.75.
“Thank you to Mayor Prince and all of the City of Gary officials and members of the Gary Sanitary District, as well as the leaders of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, for your action today to invest in the future of Gary,” Rep. Frank J. Mrvan said. “This investment will further improve the livelihoods for the residents of the City of Gary, and ultimately will help create the conditions for more economic activity and an enhanced quality of life of everyone in our region.”