The Lower Badger Mill Creek Interceptor (LBMCI) project involves a 20-year construction of a regional sanitary sewer interceptor serving the Lower Badger Mill Creek drainage basin, covering the far west side of Madison, the town of Middleton, the town of Verona and the City of Verona.
Latest Updates
- A virtual Public Information Meeting was held on March 12, 2025. View the presentation.
- Phase 6 construction contract was awarded to Integrity Grading and Excavating on March 13, 2025. Construction staking in the ravine is expected to take place in April. Construction in Shady Oak Lane is expected to begin in May.
Read the LBMCI Newsletter Issue #7 from February 17, 2025 for more detailed project updates.
Project Background and Overview
Phases 5 and 6 of the Lower Badger Mill Creek Interceptor (LBMCI) will complete a regional sanitary sewer interceptor that was more than 20 years in the making. Representatives from the District, Town of Verona, City of Verona, and City of Madison met in 2001 to discuss planning for sewerage service in the Lower Badger Mill Creek drainage basin. This basin includes parts of the far west side of Madison, the town of Middleton, the town of Verona, and the City of Verona. It was determined that the best way to serve the basin was with a regional gravity sanitary sewer interceptor pipe.
The initial design of the entire 39,000 feet of interceptor pipe was started in 2004 and completed in 2006. Phase 1 included 8,000 feet of pipe at the downstream end of the sewershed and was constructed from Pump Station 17 to Edward Street by the City of Verona and the District in 2006. Phases 2, 3, and 4 of the LBMCI from Edward Street to County Highway PD included approximately 10,000 feet of pipe that was built from 2008 to 2018. The upper 12,000 feet of the regional interceptor was constructed by the City of Madison in 2012, 2015, and 2016. Phases 5 & 6 will complete the final 9,000 feet of interceptor pipe and will connect the District Phase 4 pipe north of County Highway PD to the pipe installed by the City of Madison in 2012 at Midtown Road. When complete the new Phase 5 & 6 interceptor pipe will convey an average sewage flow of approximately 3 million gallons per day and enable the decommissioning of a temporary City of Madison sanitary sewage pump station (also called a lift station) at Midtown Road. The Phase 5 & 6 designs use the initial 2006 design as a starting point and incorporate deviations from the initial design as appropriate.
Construction of Phase 5 is complete. Final design of Phase 6 continues as described below with construction scheduled to begin in 2025.
What are interceptors and pump stations?
An interceptor is a sewer pipe that receives wastewater from smaller local sewer pipes that serve neighborhoods or municipalities. Interceptors are the largest pipes in the sewage system and convey wastewater by gravity to pump stations or treatment facilities.
A pump station sits at a low point within a sewer service area basin (or drainage basin). Wastewater flows by gravity to the pump station and from there it is pumped through a pressurized pipe called a force main over hills and ridges to a higher elevation where it can again flow by gravity on its way toward the regional treatment plant.
LBMCI Phase 6
Phase 6 of the Lower Badger Mill Creek Interceptor (LBMCI) will be approximately 5,300 feet long starting, at the downstream end, where Phase 5 left off. The pipe will run up Shady Oak Lane approximately 1,200 feet to the bridge between Shady Hill Drive (no street sign) and Nor-Del-Hill Road. East of the bridge, on the Shady Hill Drive side, the interceptor will veer north through private property and up a ravine that cuts through the Johnstown Moraine. A Guide to the Glacial Landscapes of Dane County, Wisconsin, Mickelson, 1983 (page 40 - mile 17) describes the ravine as follows (driving towards Midtown Road):
“Meltwater cut through the moraine to your right at this location and water flowed through this channel as the glacier margin retreated from the Johnstown Moraine. Richardson Cave, a small cave in the Platteville-Galena dolomite is present a few hundred yards up this drainageway. Continuing on Shady Oak Lane, you now climb onto the Johnstown Moraine.”
The depth of the pipe along the initial 2006 proposed alignment in the ravine ranged from 8 to 25 feet below ground surface (bgs). With input from private property owners, our design consultant raSmith, and the District project engineer, the alignment has been updated to more closely follow the channel of the ephemeral stream that runs along the bottom of the ravine. The depth to the bottom of the pipe along the new alignment will range from 8 to 15 feet bgs.
Glacial meltwater rushing through the ravine 20,000 to 30,000 years ago carried lighter soil particles such as clay, silt, sand, and gravel to the outwash plain below the moraine. Larger cobbles and boulders settled out of the meltwater earlier and it is likely that many were left in the ravine. In fact, several very large boulders are visible on the surface of the ravine bottom today. Excavating large cobbles and boulders is more difficult than excavating smaller, more uniform soil particles. In addition to cobbles and boulders, bedrock may also be present at some locations along the new alignment. Soil borings and a seismic survey along the original proposed alignment during the initial design effort in 2006 determined that bedrock was likely below the bottom of the proposed pipe along the 2006 route. The bedrock profile may be different along the new pipe alignment in the ravine.
The Wisconsin Geological and Natural History Survey (WGNHS) was hired by the District, through our consultant raSmith, to perform a geophysical investigation along the entire new alignment of Phases 5 and 6. The results of the study indicate that the Phase 6 route may be into the top foot or two of bedrock at a few locations. The Phase 6 specifications will require the contractor to dig test pits to verify the presence or absence of bedrock and to develop a plan for bedrock removal if necessary. The plan shall favor non-explosive methods such as expanding grout, hydraulic fracturing, ripper teeth, sawing, drilling, etc. for rock removal.
The Phase 6 pipe will leave the top of the ravine approximately 250 feet southwest from an impoundment of the ephemeral stream. The purpose of the impoundment is to prevent upstream stormwater runoff from entering nearby Richardson’s Cave. After exiting the ravine, the pipe will run east and then north in farmland up to Midtown Road. Any manholes in active farm fields will be left two or more feet bgs so that farming may continue on the land above. At Midtown Road the pipe will cross to the north side of the road and then run east to the City of Madison Midtown Lift Station. Once connected to existing pipe installed in 2012 by the City of Madison, the entire Lower Badger Mill Creek Interceptor will be complete. Assuming improvements to the District’s Pump Station 17 and associated force main are complete, gravity sewer flow from the entire Badger Mill Creek sewershed will be possible and the temporary Midtown Lift Station can be abandoned.
View a map of the proposed Phase 6 alignment
Hydrogeology and Private Wells
The District and our consultant have gathered publicly available well records within and beyond a 1,000 foot wide corridor along the proposed pipe alignment. A 3-dimensional visualization model was created from these well records and other existing regional information. Review of this data indicates that the shallow bedrock layer is a dolomite karst formation. Karst formations are characterized by interconnected solution cavities and crevices that can allow rapid transmission of water similar to pipe flow. Therefore, groundwater in karst formations is susceptible to impacts from sources and activities at the surface.
Private well capture areas are relatively small. Based on the local hydrogeology and typical well use, the potential for impacts to private wells more than 500 feet away from the construction is expected to be limited. In addition, private wells cased through the karst formation that draw water from the underlying deep sandstone formations are much less likely to be impacted by surface activities. Deep sandstone formations have slower groundwater flow and provide more filtration, whereas the shallow karst formation, with its interconnected cavities and crevices, has faster groundwater flow with less filtering capability.
Because the construction of Phase 6 will disturb the ground surface, local impacts in the karst formation may occur as the new pipe is installed. Private well owners in the area have expressed concerns about possible construction impacts on their well water and the integrity of their wells. Recognizing these concerns, the District, with assistance from raSmith and AECOM, developed a technical memorandum to address potential risks and impacts that may occur during construction. The memorandum is focused on private wells located within a 1,000 foot wide corridor, 500 feet on each side of the pipe alignment. Existing well records were reviewed to assess the susceptibility of those private wells to impacts based on the depth of their casing and the bedrock from which the well is drawing its water.
Private Well Monitoring Memo for Phase 6
Phase 6 Anticipated Construction Schedule
Open Bids: February 27, 2025
Award Contract: March 13, 2025
Construction Start: May 2025
Complete Shady Oak Lane: August 15, 2025
Substantial Completion: June 1, 2026
Final Completion: July 1, 2026
Project Documents
2004 Map of Lower Badger Mill Creek Basin and Proposed Interceptor
2006 Initial Plans from CTH PD and Midtown Road
Newsletters
- Newsletter 1: June 7, 2005
- Newsletter 2: February 7, 2006
- Newsletter 3: February 23, 2006
- Newsletter 4: November 23, 2022
- Newsletter 5: November 12, 2023
- Newsletter 6: May 15, 2024
- Newsletter 7: February 17, 2025
Public Involvement
The District will coordinate with private and government stakeholders and will hold public information meetings for this project.
- Public Information Meeting (PIM) #3 was held on March 12, 2025. The meeting was held in a virtual format, offering a presentation with Q&A.
- PIM #2 was held on December 1, 2023. The meeting was an open house format with formal presentation and Q&A held at the Town of Verona Town Hall.
- PIM #1 was held almost exactly one year prior on December 8, 2022. The meeting was an open house format held at the Town of Verona Town Hall. Since PIM #1, the proposed alignment of Phase 5 was changed based on coordination with the Ardent Glen development and the proposed alignment of Phase 6 was changed based on input from private property owners.
