Gresham Smith is excited to announce that construction on a 1.7-mile greenway trail and new force main have been completed in Hoover, Alabama. A joint project between Gresham Smith’s Transportation and Water + Environment Markets, the new trail provides members of the Inverness community with a new recreational amenity, pedestrian and bicycle access to all of the neighborhoods along Inverness Parkway and connectivity to two city parks on each end of the trail. The new force main will upgrade the public sewer system and increase capacity.
Approximately 1.1 miles of the trail is comprised of an 8 to 10-foot-wide, shared-use, concrete path that runs along Inverness Parkway. The other 0.6 miles feature a 10 to 12-foot-wide asphalt path that runs along an existing sanitary sewer easement through the woods in Hoover’s Nature Park. This section of the trail also features a 270-foot-long timber treetop pedestrian bridge.
“As a firm, we recognize that increased access to outdoor space and multimodal connectivity is highly desirable, and we could not be prouder to deliver this greenway trail for Shelby County and the City of Hoover,” said Alabama State Transportation Leader Blair Perry, P.E. “With this project, we are providing increased connectivity to the residents of the Inverness community and giving residents multi-modal transportation options for decades to come. This project was a great collaborative effort between Shelby County, the City of Hoover as well as members of the various homeowner’s associations in the Inverness Community.”
Before the portion of the greenway trail along the sewer easement was paved, Gresham Smith designed a new, 2,700-foot-long, 10-inch force main, which will increase the public sewer capacity to 1,200 gallons per day and protect the surrounding natural environment. Using trenchless construction, the firm was able to leave the existing sewer line active throughout the project and then transferred the flow over once construction on the new line had been completed. This also eliminated bypass pumping and its’ associated costs.
“Increasing the capacity of Hoover’s public sewer infrastructure is beneficial for everyone involved–the city, the residents and the environment,” said Water + Environment Project Executive Hal Humphrey, P.E. “Through this multi-governmental effort and extensive coordination, we delivered an innovative and cost-efficient solution that will benefit a great number of city residents.”
The majority of the project was funded by federal congestion mitigation and air quality funds through the Birmingham Metropolitan Planning Organization, with Shelby County and the City splitting the local matching funds required. The project was administered and constructed by the Alabama Department of Transportation.
“Gresham Smith provided professional, innovative engineering services that delivered this project efficiently and successfully,” said Hoover City Engineer Chris Reeves. “Members of the Inverness Community now have a top-notch outdoor amenity that is readily available to them, and will be utilized for decades to come.”
