A building permit to expand Red Deer’s wastewater treatment plant accounted for nearly 85 per cent of the value of the construction work approved by the city last month.
North America Construction Ltd. was issued a permit for work valued at $53.8 million.
The project, which relates to the regional wastewater system to extend from Olds to Red Deer, helped boost the city’s total permit tally for October to $66.9 million. That’s up from $15.2 million for the same month in 2011.
Industrial permits, which included the wastewater treatment plant approval and projects in Queens Business Park, made up $56.3 million of the October 2012 total, with residential permits adding $7.8 million, public permits $1.7 million and commercial permits $1.1 million.
Last year, the combined value of permits in the same month included $6.1 million for residential projects, $4.6 million in the industrial category, $3.5 million for commercial work and $1 million for public projects.
From January to October 2012, the city issued building permits worth a combined $236.9 million, up from $146.8 million for the same 10-month period in 2011.
Residential work accounted for $100.6 million of this year’s figure, up from $62 million in 2011; industrial permits added $70.2 million, as compared with $14.3 million; commercial projects made up $55.7 million, versus $50.8 million; and work in the public category came in at $10.4 million, down from $19.8 million.
Funded primarily by the province, Red Deer’s wastewater treatment plant project is being undertaken to boost the plant’s capacity and help preserve water quality in the Red Deer River.
It will include the construction of two biological nutrient bioreactors and other facilities, as well as upgrades to the existing system.