Audio By Carbonatix
It seems nothing associated with the Trinity River project has gone according to plan. That $38 million soccer complex is being built next to an asphalt-crushing plant, the delightful kayaking feature is such a threat to human safety that you can’t go near it, there’s not enough money for all those signature bridges, and the Trinity Parkway is from all appearances now a synonym of boondoggle.
Not everything associated with the project is a failure, as you can see from the photo above. That’s the new, $27 million Pavaho Pump Station, one of the half dozen such structures responsible for pumping would-be flood water from the downtown area into the Trinity, and it’s only using one of its pumps.
The station has been under construction for two years. You might remember when Mayor Tom Leppert, City Manager Mary Suhm and several council members “tossed the first ceremonial shovelfuls of sand” back in 2010. Or maybe not. The Baker Pump Station at Sylvan Avenue and Irving Boulevard is also getting a redo.
The old pump was built in the 1950s and could pump 80,000 gallons of water per minute. When the new one goes online in September, its three “high efficiency corrosion-resistant Concrete Volute pumps” will be able to handle 375,000 gpm, nearly five times as much.
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So, West Dallas, you are now 295,000 gpm less likely to need a boat when the monsoon comes.
