A Clear Approach to Cleaning Water

Owner:
Sanitation District No. 1 of Northern Kentucky
Location:
Petersburg, Kentucky
Size:
150 acres
Architect:
GRW (Engineer)
Services:
General Construction
Date Completed:
June 2012

To support anticipated capacity needs in its service region of Boone and Kenton counties, Sanitation District No. 1 of Northern Kentucky added a new 150-acre water reclamation facility (Western Region Water) to its nationally-recognized storm-water management program. The Walbridge / Dugan & Meyers Joint Venture wrapped up construction at the Petersburg, Ky., facility in May 2012 – six months ahead of schedule.

Making Connections and Finishing Early

It’s not a large reclamation site, with a designed average capacity of 20 million gallons a day (by comparison, Detroit’s regional reclamation facility averages 1 billion gallons per day and Chicago’s averages 4 billion), but the Western Regional Water job was a big one.

In addition to the partnership it formed with Sanitation District No. 1 of Northern Kentucky, the Walbridge / Dugan & Meyers Joint Venture also partnered with the Kentucky Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), which used the construction site as a training platform. By volunteering the Western Regional Water jobsite for the program, Walbridge helped support the training of inspectors from a variety of disciplines including environment, air and water quality, erosion control, aerial lifts, scaffolding and confined space.

The Scheme for Clean

The $69 million reclamation facility was built on a greenfield site off State Route 20 in Western Boone County. The project included construction of seven structures and four cast-in-place aeration basins, each divided into three 120-foot-long, 41-foot-wide, 16-foot-deep chambers. The project team also installed five tanks and more than six miles of underground piping with some pipes measuring 102 inches in diameter – big enough for a car to pass through. Parts of the site required the team to excavate 45 feet below ground. Four turbo blowers, at a cost totaling $3.5 million, required a 20-month prefabrication period before installation. They operate at 10,000 revolutions per minute, similar to that of a jet engine. The team also installed three clarifiers, each measuring 135 feet in diameter.

Adding Value Without Adding Costs

Through value analysis and value engineering (VA/VE) efforts, more than $445,700 in client savings was recognized. In the end, the joint venture came up ahead of schedule and under budget on the project.

Moreover, approximately 350,000 man hours of self-performed and subcontractor labor have been logged since the team broke ground in March 2009. Not a single lost-time incident was reported.