LUS Projects
Updated as of August 20, 2024
Moss Street Substation
Construction of a 69/13.8kV substation capable of serving a large portion of the load on the north side of Lafayette to reduce load on existing Peck substation and allow future expansion in this area. Benefits will include increased reliability and reduced restoration times during outages and maintenance. Project was initiated and budgeted in 2005 with substation location acquired in 2015.
• Project cost – $5,500,000
• Start date – under construction, anticipate completion in 8 months
• Progress – 5% complete
Jim Love Storage Tank
Installation of a new 1.75 million gallon concrete ground storage tank and associated piping/pumps at the Jim Love Water Treatment Plant on W. Broussard Road. The tank will provide fire protection as well as redundancy to the existing tank to prevent service interruptions during maintenance or repair activities (cleaning, painting, leak repair). It will also provide extra storage capacity to meet high demands during peak hourly usage times and severe weather events such as droughts, freezes, and hurricanes. (This project is partially funded by an ARPA grant from the Water Sector Program.)
• Project cost – $4,697,000
• Start date – Bid November 2, 2023, anticipate completion in December, 2024
• Progress – 75% complete
Elan Lift Station
Installation of a new sewer lift station at Elan Subdivision (E. Broussard Rd and Kaliste Saloom Rd). The lift station and force main will replace an existing community treatment plant serving the residential subdivision and school. The force main will discharge to a new LUS large gravity sewer on Kaliste Saloom Rd for final disposition at Ambassador Caffery Wastewater Treatment Plant. (This project is partially funded by an ARPA grant from the Water Sector Program.)
• Project cost – $1,626,925
• Start date – Bid June 29, 2023, anticipate completion in July 2024
• Progress – 100% complete
Ambassador Caffery Treatment Plant Headworks Rehabilitation
Project to repair, rehabilitate, and coat the deteriorated concrete headworks basin. The concrete has deteriorated in some parts due to hydrogen sulfide exposure. The basin is necessary for processing and treating wastewater. (This project is partially funded by an ARPA grant from the Water Sector Program.)
• Project cost – $497,000
• Start date – bid June 8, 2023, anticipate completion in September 2024
• Progress – 100% complete
LED Street Light Project
LUS is replacing existing 21,000 street lights with LED lights. The LED street light project will improve nighttime traffic visibility and roadway safety, reduce electric consumption, decrease maintenance costs, and create possibilities for “smart city” functions. The project is estimated to save the city $500,000 to $800,000 a year.
• Project cost – $8,750,000
• Start date – began April 2022, anticipate completion mid-2024
• Progress – View LED progress
Downtown Sewer Lift Station
LUS plans to construct a major sewer lift station and force main to provide additional sewer capacity for downtown and the surrounding areas as well as mitigate overflows. The lift station will supply additional sewer capacity to serve approximately 2,000 residential units.
As a recipient of a 2023 PA Community Grant of $5 million, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 6 Water Division conducted an environmental review for the Main South Gravity Sewer Upgrade project and issued a preliminary Environmental Assessment/Finding of No Significant Impact (EA/FONSI). The EA/FONSI is open for public review and comment for 30 days ending on June 22nd, 2024. All documents relative to this determination, including the invitation for public comment, are available for review through the EPA NEPA (National Environmental Policy Act) Compliance Documents website here.
Please click here to read EPA’s letter addressed to the Mayor-President.
• Project cost – $10,000,000
• Start date – Bid August 2024, anticipate completion of construction in January 2026
• Progress – 100% completion of design phase
Northeast Transmission Line
As part of the Moss Street Substation project, transmission lines connecting to the new substation will supply power to the area through the new Moss Street Substation. Transmission route was finalized in 2020. Pole design is complete, awaiting final property purchases. Contract for construction will be awarded mid-2024.
• Start date – begin construction Summer 2024 – pending property acquisition, anticipate completion in 14 months
• Progress – 100% completion of design phase
South Wastewater Treatment Plant Sludge Handling
The expansion of the South Wastewater Treatment Plant will accommodate additional wastewater treatment to keep up with area growth. These pre-treatment units and associated facilities allow the plant to more efficiently route wastewater flows and to reduce sludge handling costs.
• Project cost – $8,482,000
• Start date – began April 2021, new treatment units began operation November 2022
• Progress – 100% complete
Commission Boulevard Water Treatment Plant
The plant will be able to process 4 million gallons of water per day and will have a ground storage tank with 1 million gallons capacity. The plant implements an ultraviolet light system paired with a chlorine gas process for disinfection. Commission Blvd is the 1st plant in Louisiana to use a new technology of biological filtration paired with a green sand filtration process. The plant is currently online and supplying water to the system.
• Project cost – $12,119,000
• Start date – project began July 2021, plant began operation in April 2023
• Progress – 100% complete