Wednesday marked the ribbon-cutting for the MSD Clifton Heights Combined Sewer Overflow (CSO) Basin. Built into a grassy hillside next to the Mellwood Arts and Entertainment Center, the 7 million gallon basin will capture and store wastewater and stormwater during rain events and gradually release it back into the sewer system when treatment capacity is available. 

MSD Executive Director Tony Parrott said the basin will help protect Beargrass Creek and the neighborhood from combined sewer overflows while also offering a park-like setting.

MSD’s work toward supplier diversity means businesses owned and operated by minorities perform millions of dollars in infrastructure and other work for the agency. These efforts were recently recognized by the Tri-State Minority Supplier Development Council (TSMSDC), which awarded MSD its 2019 Impact—Corporation of the Year Award.

February 2019 was one of the wettest months in Louisville’s history, with heavy rainfall causing flooding from the Ohio River Valley throughout the Louisville/Jefferson County area.

During any flooding event, it is important to take precaution and follow these tips:

• Be careful walking through water. As little as 6 inches of water can cause a person to fall. 

• Never drive through water, and stay away from electrical equipment and downed power lines.

So here’s the scoop of “Bumblebee” …

“Scoop” doesn’t quite do it justice, however, for the work underway at the Waterway Protection Tunnel, as “Bumblebee,” the project’s tunnel boring machine, continues to carve its way through bedrock to create the four-mile tunnel.

MSD’s “Bowl Patrol” campaign offers a light-hearted approach to the issue of what to and what not to flush (hint: only “the three Ps” = pee, poo and toilet paper). Though the campaign uses humor to convey its message, the ramification of split-second bathroom decisions plays out in large—and frequently expensive—ways for Louisville MSD.

Collections Supervisor Claude Rottet said people sending the wrong items down the toilet causes massive issues for MSD equipment and personnel, and the biggest culprit is so-called “flushable” wipes.

With St. Patrick’s Day around the corner, Louisville MSD is helping to bring in the green in a different way. 

MSD joined with Councilman Brandon Coan (D-8) on Friday to announce the third annual Planting O’ the Green, in conjunction with the 46th St. Patrick’s Parade. The program is designed to enhance the city’s tree canopy over the next several years. This year, approximately 166 trees will be planted in various Metro Council districts.

Portions of the Louisville-Jefferson County flood maps have recently been updated. These updates impact approximately 2,800 properties.  To see if a property will be in the new flood hazard area, check the map at https://bit.ly/2J2TW9G or email matt.schaaf@louisvillemsd.org with the address of the property in question.

Engineering may not have been the direction Heather Dodds expected her life to take, but then again, she wasn’t sure what direction it would take.

“I was that person who didn’t know what they wanted to be when they grew up,” she said. So she might not have planned on becoming an engineer, and she probably never expected to find herself overseeing a massive capital project on one of MSD’s most critical assets.

Louisville MSD’s Board of Directors approved on February 25 a pair of programs intended to improve the diversity of firms that receive MSD contracts and create community benefits in neighborhoods where MSD is working. The enhanced Supplier Diversity Program and the new Community Benefits Program take effect on July 1, 2019.

For the Supplier Diversity Program,  construction and construction-related services valued at or above $150,000 must include goals for the following qualified vendors who can perform a clear and commercially useful scope of work on the project:

The Kentucky Science Center’s Engineering Days on February 8 offered students an opportunity to speak one-on-one with engineering professionals who imagine, design and create the world around us. MSD’s Waterway Protection Tunnel Project Manager Jacob Mathis spoke with students from across the region about MSD’s largest project in our history.