The city of Spokane has awarded a contract valued at about $1 million to Davenport, Wash.-based Halme Construction Inc. to install a sewer line along a 1 1/2-mile stretch of Upriver Drive in East Spokane.

Installation of the new 18-inch sewer line will supply gravity-powered wastewater service to residents in a neighborhood that's roughly bounded by Upriver Drive to the south and east, by Rebecca Street to the west, and by Frederick Avenue in the north, says city spokeswoman Ann Deasy.

That new line also will allow the city to eliminate existing pump stations in the area, Deasy says.

Those pump stations currently pump wastewater uphill to the city's system, she says.

The project is being funded by the city's wastewater department, and construction started in mid-August, Deasy says.

An expected completion date is set for October, she says.

Throughout the duration of work, Deasy says Upriver Drive between Rebecca, which intersects Upriver about a block east of Freya Street, and Frederick Avenue will be closed. Frederick intersects Upriver at a Y just west of the city's Upriver Dam on the Spokane River.