Howard County is preparing to build a 10.5-mile, $66 million sewer line along the Little Patuxent River from Savage to Centennial Park.
Design work for the line, which will parallel an existing gravity sewer line along the river, is under way, and county officials hope construction will begin next summer.
The pipe's diameter will vary from 42 inches at the treatment plant, where the work will begin, to 27 inches at its northern terminus. The project is intended to provide sewer service in the eastern part of the county through the year 2035, including the redevelopment of central Columbia, said Wes Daub, project manager.
"The current line is close to being tapped out," Daub said, adding that the new line, which will take up to two years to complete in 11 separate construction contracts, will have a capacity to carry up to 25 million gallons of wastewater a day.
Money for the project, including $19 million in the current fiscal year capital budget, comes from water and sewer taxes that support the county's Water and Sewer Capital Projects Fund.
A geotechnical study of the river route is to begin Monday as part of the design work for the line, Daub said. The sewer line will begin north of Route 108 and will follow the river to Savage through Dorsey's Search, through Town Center along Lake Kittamaqundi's eastern edge, and through the Columbia villages of Kings Contrivance and Owen Brown.
Daub said the county hopes to advertise the first construction contracts by April.