Raptors soak up knowledge about water, engineering at project site

November 7, 2025

Robinson Elementary School students turned on faucets of aquatic knowledge this fall when they learned about water and engineering in Lincoln.
 
Students in third and fifth grades traveled to the intersection of 98th Street and White Pine Road to inspect a major water infrastructure project. They signed their names on two large water main pipes, sat in several construction machines and discovered the importance of having clean water to drink.
 
Third grader Aurora said she enjoyed writing her name on a water transmission main pipe that weighed 7,000 pounds. Lincoln Transportation and Utilities (LTU) employees provided students with markers to use on the blue pipe, which is part of a project called Lincoln’s Water 2.0: Securing Lincoln’s Second Source. The 98th St. transmission main will serve as a link between the city’s current water source in the Platte River wellfield and its proposed second source at the Missouri River in Cass County.
 
“It was really fun, because it’s going to be down in the ground for a long time,” Aurora said.
 
Classmate Marc said he was impressed with the size of the pipe. The sections of the transmission main will range between 54-60 inches in diameter.
 
“I’d kind of seen them before, but I didn’t think that they would be this big up close,” Marc said.
 
Robinson third grade teachers Ashley Lammers, Jordyn Moerer and Adina To smiled as their students climbed inside construction equipment, inspected the pipes and soaked up facts about Lincoln’s water supply. Lincoln Public Schools partnered with LTU to give the Raptors a firsthand view of the engineering project. Experts from Judds Bros. Construction Company and the engineering firm HDR were also on hand to help teach students.
 
“It’s a wonderful opportunity to be able to partner with LTU to teach lessons on water and engineering,” To said. “It gives students an immersive, hands-on experience and correlates with our social studies unit about natural resources found in Nebraska, specifically water. We believe being involved in this experience will help students remember the importance of water conservation as they get older.”
 
“They’ve been really excited,” Lammers said as students walked to the site. “We’ve been talking about this all week.”

 
Lincoln Mayor Leirion Gaylor Baird said she was excited for students to become more familiar with water-based topics. She shook hands with the young Raptors, signed her name to the pipe and spoke with teachers about the educational opportunity.
 
“I don’t think a lot of people think about what it takes to have water flow to their kitchen sink, and this is a chance to show that to our kids,” Gaylor Baird said. “It’s also a chance to help them become a part of the conservation efforts that we need in order to have enough water for everyone in our community while we get this Water 2.0 project in place. And we hope that it might even inspire a few of the children to think about becoming an engineer, to be able to be the kind of community leader who helps get this work done so that we can grow our community far into the future.”

 
The 98th Street water transmission main project includes the design and construction of a pipe that will be installed under neighborhood streets. LTU is creating a connection between the Northeast Pump Station, located at 98th St. and Alvo Road, to the Vine Street Reservoir. The new water transmission main will allow the city’s water distribution and supply system to expand in the future.
 
The 98th Street project is one of the first steps in the large-scale Water 2.0 effort, which has a long-term goal of connecting Lincoln to Missouri River wellfields by Beaver Lake in Cass County. LTU employees are currently performing general survey work within both Lancaster and Cass counties to support future planning. Construction would likely begin in 2035 and would have a proposed completion date of 2048.
 
Aurora said she first learned about the water cycle process in second grade. She and her classmates discovered that liquid water becomes water vapor and turns into dew, frost, fog or clouds. The water vapor in clouds can then return to the ground in precipitation like rain or snow.
 
Marc said he was happy to find out more facts about the local water supply. LTU employees told students that Lincoln residents use approximately 40 million gallons of water each day. The city maintains 1,370 miles of water mains, 12,823 fire hydrants and 29,344 valves.
 
“It’s fun knowing more things about water, because all I knew about water was that it tastes good and I like to drink it,” Marc said.

 

Gaylor Baird said she is hopeful that Robinson students will continue filling up their knowledge tanks about water, engineering and resource management topics.
 
“This project is for them,” Gaylor Baird said. “This project is about the future. It’s about growing our community and making sure that we continue to have an amazing quality of life and all the resources we need for them to have bright futures.
 
“So really, it’s for them, and to have them come be a part of laying this pipe, to sign it, to learn more about what it takes to get it done, I think is really special, and hopefully will inspire them to think about how they can be caretakers for Lincoln’s future as they grow.”
 
Water is one of many science-based topics that LPS students learn about at elementary, middle and high school levels. Visit home.lps.org/science to view curriculum objectives, course guides and summaries of science lessons at LPS.
 
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