ERHARDT HAS COMPLETED BIG RAPIDS WASTEWATER TREATMENT PLANT IMPROVEMENTS

The final phase of retrofitting existing equipment and piping for the plant, along with completing the Grease Grit Building, South Digester retrofit, and the plant-wide computer control network system is now completed.

This entire project consisted of three different phases to be completed in sequence at different dates throughout the course of the 20-month construction period. Some of the challenges that Erhardt faced involved working around existing underground piping and structures that had been in place for years and were not clearly located, and coordinating with the facility that had to remain in full operation for the entire project while the majority of the existing equipment and piping was renovated or replaced.

BETON CHARTER TOWNSHIP WATER IMPROVEMENTS

Erhardt began the construction of a water filtration plant (10,221 SF) and a low-lift RAW water pump station (3,574 SF) for Benton Charter Township (Michigan), as part of the township’s water improvements project. The water will be for use as domestic drinking water for the township.

The RAW water pump station will receive water through a 36-inch concrete intake pipe that stretches over one mile out into Lake Michigan. From there it is pumped approximately three quarters of a mile to the filtration plant, where it will be filtered by three individual filtration units and distributed through the township’s domestic water system.

Erhardt is constructing a 20-foot diameter shore well at the RAW water pump station, which is being constructed from the top down. This well will eventually be 40 feet in depth. The exterior well perimeter is composed of sheet piles that are driven the full 40-foot depth of the well.

It is the shore well that first receives the water from Lake Michigan. The intake pipe will be installed out in Lake Michigan by a separate contractor, but after it reaches the shoreline, Erhardt will take over and install it the remaining 315 lineal feet. Starting at the beach, the intake pipe will be installed underground and into the shore well using a tunneling method called boring and jacking. Boring and jacking consists of first driving an oversized 54-inch steel casing pipe underground to the shore well, removing the material inside of the casing pipe, and then sliding the 36-inch intake pipe through. Once the water enters this shore well, it passes through a traveling screen and micro-filters for a quick cleansing, and is then pumped over to the filter plant for final processing.

At the water filtration plant, water first enters the process well which serves as the first holding tank for the RAW water before the water begins the filtering process. Water is then distributed through three large filtration units provided by Siemens Water Technologies. A series of chemicals are added to the water to help clean and treat the water, and then pumped into a storage tank for distribution.

Masonry walls are being constructed for the water filtration plant at a rapid pace. Concrete crews are casting the roof beams to support the precast roof plank, and also forming and placing the process well cap. All underground mechanical, plumbing and electrical are being installed in preparation to begin pouring the building’s floor slabs.