R.B. Simms Water Treatment Plant

S&ME provided geotechnical engineering and construction materials testing services for improvements to existing 64 MGD water treatment plant. The improvements included a 2.5 MG clearwell, high service/backwash pump station, and filter effluent/post flash mixing basin. The project also included a sedimentation basin decant pump station, thickened sludge pump station, and sodium hypochlorite tank farm. Services were also provided for a control building, underground service piping, and proposed discharge piping. Given that a majority of the structures were below existing grade, the project required significant excavation depths.

S&ME performed geotechnical exploration including thirteen soil test borings and laboratory testing. Varying subsurface conditions included existing fill soils up to 18 feet below the surface and the presence of alluvium and groundwater in sections of the site. Our team also provided recommendations for foundation design, site preparation, fill placement, dewatering, excavated slopes and fill embankments, site retaining walls, and excavation design. Six additional soil test borings around the facility were performed, of which five were converted to permanent monitoring wells. The team installed wells to the top of auger refusal which ranged in depth from 16 feet to 70 feet below the ground surface. Also, S&ME sampled paint (for lead) from an existing elevated storage tank prior to demolition.

S&ME also performed construction materials testing for the project from 2011 to 2012. Services consisted of subgrade and undercut evaluations; engineered fill testing and observations; foundation bearing material evaluations; and concrete and shotcrete sampling, testing, and observations. We performed approximately 40 field density tests and made over 74 sets of concrete cylinders for the project.

Highlights

• Geotechnical engineering and construction materials testing for water treatment plant