Merko Ehitus reconstructed the water supply system in Valga

Merko Ehitus has completed the second stage of the reconstruction and renovation of the water supply and sewerage system in Valga. In this stage of the project, for which Merko was contracted by Valga Vesi AS, about 37 km of water supply and sewerage lines were installed and renovated.

Tiit Joosti, project manager at Merko Ehitus, says that the second stage of the reconstruction of the water supply system also included some additional road construction work, financed by Valga Town Government and carried out simultaneously with the reconstruction works of the water supply and sewerage system.

Joosti says that the most positive aspect of the construction project was the tight co-operation both with the client and with the Town Government, who acted in a constructive, competent and timely manner. “It is only owing to such good co-operation that we managed to complete the project before the deadline,” Joosti added.

Tiit Joosti mentioned that they also had to guarantee the proper functioning of the existing systems: a factor which often caused problems and hindered the progress of the works as it required very careful handling and planning. Also, the soil in Valga varies quite a lot, between sand, clay and even quicksand – this complicated carrying out the project.

The deadline for the completion of the second stage of the Valga utility lines was originally set in October 2006, but the project was actually completed in September. In the second stage, 700 new service lines to the public water system were constructed and 160 existing ones were renovated. Additionally, 750 new service lines to the public sewerage system were established and 90 existing ones were renovated. The second stage of the project also entailed the construction of 16 km of water piping, 16 km of gravity sewers, 1 km of pressure sewers, 5 km of storm drainage lines and 3 sewage overflow pumping stations.

The total cost of the second stage, including the cost of the additional works ordered by Valga Town Government, was approximately 100 million EEK.

27 kilometres of water piping and 27 kilometres of gravity sewers in total were installed and reconstructed in the first and second stages of the project of Valga utility lines. Also, 3 kilometres of pressure sewers, 6 kilometres of storm drainage lines and 6 sewage overflow pumping stations were constructed. The entire project entailed the construction of a total of 1 050 new and the renovation of 300 existing service lines to the public water system, and the construction of 1 180 new and the renovation of 145 existing service lines to the public sewerage system.

As a result of the project, 90 % of the 14 700 inhabitants of Valga now have access to the public water supply and sewerage system. The total cost of the project was 134 million EEK