Hamilton gets millions to upgrade its aging water infrastructure

Hamilton is going to spruce up its world. The iconic eight-storey high globe is a decades-old QEW landmark in need of new paint. But it also plays a lucrative role in Hamilton’s public works system.

With $21 million in promised Federal funding, it will get a $3 million dollar upgrade. Part of the cost will be having to take the ball down for up to three months. It stores methane gas from Hamilton’s landfill, which is turned into electricity and heat, generating $1.2 million a year.

This is all part of a 16-project investment announced by three levels of Government today.

The most expensive upgrade on the list of projects, about $10 million, is the mountain trunk storm sewer which lies in part beneath the Linc at Upper Gage. The city’s project description says a concrete arch inside the sewer is in danger of imminent collapse, although a city official says that may be an overstatement.

Many of the projects have already begun and would have been necessary with or without funding but today brought confirmation that Ottawa will pick up half of the tab, and Queen’s Park another quarter. That leaves $10 million to come from city coffers.