Energy-Enviormental

North River Wastewater Treatment Plant (NYCDEP)

The North River Wastewater Treatment Plant, newest of New York City Department of Environmental Protection’s fourteen wastewater treatment plants, is located on the west side of upper Manhattan in the Hudson River between 137th & 145th Streets. This facility has a capacity to treat 340 million gallons of combined sanitary and storm water daily.

Construction of the 28-acre reinforced concrete platform to support the plant began in 1972. The platform, with a foundation of 2,300 caissons driven over 200 feet deep into bedrock, was completed in 1978. For the first time in NYC history, raw sewage was no longer discharged into the Hudson River when the advanced preliminary treatment system went into operation in 1986, followed by a secondary treatment system in 1991. Designing a vertically stacked WWTP in the Hudson River to contain all the buildings, equipment and piping required for advanced primary and secondary treatment is a notable engineering accomplishment.

Riverbank State Park, covers the entire 28-acre roof of the WWTP, offering a wide variety of recreational activities and arts experiences for the public. Included are an Olympic-size pool, covered skating rink, 800-seat cultural theater, 2,500-seat athletic complex, various sports fields, basketball courts, and a restaurant with spectacular views of the Hudson River.

Beginning in 2016, Yonkers was awarded four DEP contracts at North River, with an aggregate cost of $240M, to upgrade the treatment facility. Major items of work included are the electrification of the plant, renovation and upgrade of the main sewage pumps, replacing seven miles of existing piping, and the installation of cogeneration engines fueled in part by plant digester gas, a byproduct of the treatment process. Adding in myriad upgrades and replacements on various parts of the plant generated a CPM schedule with 5,500 work activities to determine contract progress and overall completion.