Grand Canyon National Park is one of the most spectacular examples of erosion anywhere in the world—unmatched in the incomparable vistas it offers on the South and North rims. The park is not only home to more than 4,000 different species of plants and animals, a community of about 2,500 people resides here, and has hosted more than 6 million annual visitors during peak years. With the park’s popularity come the pressures of balancing the preservation and protection of the ecosystem and operational needs.
The National Park Service has initiated a series of projects to ensure necessary critical infrastructure is upgraded or replaced to enhance overall safety, residents’ quality of life, and visitor experience while protecting park resources. Every effort has been made to schedule work to reduce impacts to visitors and residents, but near-term impacts are inevitable. We thank you for your patience as we carry out these important projects.
Planned Projects: 2022-27
This graphic is a Gantt Chart that displays a timeline for the different stages of 10 planned infrastructure projects to take place from 2022 to 2027. The background color of the chart is green
Horizontally across the top of the chart in white characters are the years: 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025, 2026 and 2027.
In a vertical column on the left is a listing of the 10 projects divided into 3 locaion based catagories: South Rim, Inner Canyon and North Rim. For each project the initial compliance period is indicated by a pair of white arrows. The design phase is shown as a blue line, and the construction phase as a brown line. The colored lines describe the duration of each stage of a given project.
Beginning with the South Rim projects, at the top of the left column.
South Rim Substation: project design takes place during 2022, construction from 2023 through mid-2025.
South Rim Waste Water Treatment Plant: design takes place from 2022, through early-2025. Construction from early-2025 through mid-2026.
South Rim Shuttle Bus Facility Center: design takes place from 2022 through mid-2024. Construction, mid-2024 through late 2025.
South Rim Desert View Intertribal Center: Construction in progress from 2022 through early 2024.
In the middle of the left column, the three Inner Canyon projects are listed.
Inner Canyon Transcanyon waterline: Design takes place from 2022 through early 2023. Construction, from mid-2023 through late 2026.
Inner Canyon Ribbon Falls Trail Bridge: Design phase through 2022. Construction period is not indicated.
At the bottom of the left column, the North Rim Projects are listed.
North Rim Entrance Road: Design and compliance will take place through 2022. Construction, from early 2027.
North Rim Entrance Station: Design and compliance will take place through 2022. Construction period is not indicated.
North Rim Lay-Down: Design and compliance will take place through 2022. Construction from late 2024 to mid-2027
North Rim Utilities: Design will take place from 2022 through late 2025, with the compliance work done mostly during 2023. Construction from late 2025 through mid-2027.
Text at the bottom of the left column reads: Dates are approximate and subject to change. Project names have been abbreviated.
To the right is a legend that shows a pair of white arrows indicating the initial compliance, a purple square for "planning", a blue square for "design", and a brown square for construction.
The current substation at Grand Canyon National Park is located by the Powerhouse and Mule Barn in the Historic Powerhouse District.
NPS Photo.
Support Facilities
Goal: Upgrading and creating the necessary facilities in advance of the upcoming series of large-scale park projects.
Featured projects: Substation, Helicopter Base (part of the Transcanyon Waterline project), and North Rim laydown
Projects highlights include:
Installing a substation to meet all modern code requirements of increased electrical capacity and installation of park facilities and structures for current and future operational needs.
Relocating the electrical substation facility from the South Rim Historical Powerhouse District to a designated utility corridor.
Rehabilitating the park’s helicopter base to include constructing an auxiliary hangar, landing pad, and a nearby contractor support area to facilitate the transportation of equipment and supplies into the inner canyon.
Identifying and creating a contractor and park operational laydown area on the North Rim in support of future North Rim infrastructure projects.
Water spraying from a break in an exposed section of Transcanyon Waterline following a flash flood event in 2014. Bright Angel Creek is visible to the right of the break.
NPS Photo.
Water Delivery System Replacement
Goal: Replacing the aged water delivery system to meet the service needs for the South Rim and Cross Canyon Corridor and the North Rim over the next 50 plus years in support of visitor, employee, and resident health and safety while protecting natural and cultural resources.
Rehabilitating or replacing miles of aged waterline and electrical line to increase durability and reliability of delivery in the extreme terrain and climate conditions.
Relocating the water intake for the South Rim to reduce the waterline delivery system.
Water distribution system replacement at Havasupai Gardens and distribution improvements at the Mile-and-a-Half and Three-Mile Rest Houses.
Constructing a new water treatment plant and storage tanks at Phantom Ranch.
Planning and constructing a water delivery system to the North Rim.
A design team member looks at the Phantom Ranch Reclamation Facility during a site visit for the Transcanyon Waterline project in January 2022.
NPS Photo.
Water/Wastewater Service Rehabilitation
Goals: The short-term goal is to repair aging service lines and facilities to stabilize and increase the reliability of water and wastewater services in support of visitor and employee health and safety. The long-term goal is to replace aging service lines and facilities to increase the capacity of water and wastewater services in support of visitor and employee health and safety.
Short-Term Featured Projects (Phase I): repair Wastewater Treatment Plants (WWTP) at Phantom Ranch (completed), North Rim, and Desert View (completed).
Long-Term Featured Projects (Phase II): replace and rehabilitate WWTPs at South Rim, Phantom Ranch, and North Rim (part of the North Rim Utilities project), and a new South Rim Water Treatment Plant (part of the TCWL project).
Projects highlights include:
Installing infrastructure to meet all modern code requirements for fire protection flow demands and potable water quality and storage.
Replacing and relocating wastewater lines.
Replacing the lift stations.
Installing conduit for future fiber optic communication cable.
The existing Ribbon Falls Bridge eroded with structural damage is closed to visitors. A new bridge is in development.
NPS Photo.
Visitor Use and Experience
Goal: Improve visitor arrival experience and enhance resource protection and cultural experience through the redesign of parking areas, pathways, bridges, and other visitor amenities.
Rehabilitating the North Rim Entrance Station to restore its historical integrity while modernizing the building by adding another fee collection booth, break room, and restrooms for staff.
Rehabilitating existing buildings at Desert View to provide a Tribal Welcome Center with exhibits and a cultural demonstration area.
Rehabilitating the amphitheater, pathways and redesigning the parking lot to provide better accessibility of the Desert View developed area.
A park ranger hands a visitor a Grand Canyon National Park map as they enter the North Rim Entrance Station. The North Rim Entrance Road is planned to be repaved, and the entrance station is planned for a rehabilitation project in upcoming years.
NPS photo.
Transportation
Goal: Upgrading transit infrastructure and supporting facilities to meet increased visitation use.
Featured Projects: North Rim Entrance Road; Shuttle Bus Maintenance Facility
Projects highlights include:
Increasing the capacity of the shuttle bus maintenance facility to include more maintenance bays with improved overhead and overall workspace for employees to conduct safe and efficient daily and routine maintenance and inspections.
Allocating necessary administrative, training, and storage spaces for shuttle bus staff.
Repaving the North Rim Entrance Road.
Project Documents
Current and archived Grand Canyon project documents are available to review on the National Park Service’s Planning, Environment and Public Comment site, or at the Grand Canyon National Park Museum Collection.
