Excellence in Underground Awards: Sanitary Sewer Collection Winner
Beaver Creek Interceptor Improvement Project Contract 2
[EDITOR’S NOTE: In each issue, Utility Contractor profiles NUCA’s Excellence in Underground winners (formerly “Top Jobs”.) The projects recognize challenging, innovative, or unique projects completed with excellent results. To nominate your project for an Excellence in Underground Award, visit: https://www.nuca.com/excellenceunderground]
Cleary Construction Inc. of Tompkinsville, Kentucky, successfully completed the Beaver Creek Interceptor Improvement Project Contract 2, located in the Powell community near Knoxville, Tennessee, which has experienced substantial growth over the past decade. This project was necessitated by the significant population increase and growing infrastructure of the area in an effort to support the local growth as well as reduce the amount of infiltration into the sewer system.
Beaver Creek Contract 2 consisted of the installation of 13,000 ft of 48-in. Ductile Iron Pipe Gravity Sewer, 13 major crossings of Beaver Creek, 65 precast manholes, 5,000 ft of multi-sized sewer services from 8 to 18-in. piping, 100 ft of 60-in. jack and bore road crossing, and 200 ft of 72-in. jack and bore railroad crossing.
Cleary diligently worked alongside Hallsdale Powell Utility District (HPUD) and Jacobs Engineering over the course of two years to install the new 48-in. gravity sewer. The new 48-in. line was replacing an existing 36-in. sewer that was a 50-plus year old concrete pipe that allowed significant infiltration, resulting in sewer overflows. Additionally, the ground water infiltration caused the pump station to overcompensate for extended periods of time, decreasing the overall efficiency. The new sewer line has alleviated the pump station and operates at a more systolic capacity reducing or eliminating sewer overflows.
The project location was notoriously vulnerable to localized flooding. Additionally, the project had extremely limited access. To combat this, Cleary Crews built multiple access points from main roads and installed eight bridges across Beaver Creek to allow access to the work areas. To ensure project success, the Cleary Team identified and strategically pinpointed specific work areas that needed to be installed during the dryer seasons of East Tennessee.
The project began in July 2020, when Cleary mobilized focusing entirely on access, material staging, clearing-and-grubbing and rock removal. Soon after the project was properly mobilized and staged, Cleary crews immediately and aggressively approached the 13 open-cut stream crossings. It was no secret that a key factor to overall project success was dependent upon the success of these major crossings. This aggressive and strategic approach led to the successful installation of seven of the thirteen major stream crossings before the wet season set in.
This high-profile project was widely recognized throughout the community and industry for its heavy rock excavation, creek crossings, bypass pumping, poor access, and its proneness to flooding. Many previous contractors had contributed to the projects notoriety by experiencing significant loss and even walking away from contractual obligations due to the difficulties presented by the Beaver Creek project area. To further exemplify the project’s reputation, the project only received two bids, with both bids coming from out-of-state contractors who work nationally.
One important challenge of the project was maintaining grade. The grade was 0.08 (practically flat) and there was only 9 ft of elevation change over the 2.5 miles of trunkline. The location of the project proved to be a significant challenge. The site was often flooded and left underwater for multiple weeks during construction due to rain and the low elevation of the project area. Cleary crews preformed dewatering via a well-point dewatering system well in advance of pipe installation. Due to the proximity of the trunkline to the stream, many areas had blasting restrictions per state and federal regulations. In addition, erosion control BMPs was essential to protect this highly visible waterway.
Due to the magnitude of the project, materials had to be received in phases and subcontractor coordination was also tricky. Cleary engaged in strategic and constant planning to ensure that its subcontractors had the best opportunity for success. On a project with as many challenges as this, it is quite an achievement that HPUD, Jacobs Engineering, impacted property owners, subcontractors and Cleary all deemed the project a success.
Challenges and Innovative Solutions
Cleary used the forethought to phase construction during dry weather to maximize the schedule and utilize the existing sewer trench to speed up the installation process. Also, because of the size of Beaver Creek, Cleary decided instead of traditional bypassing of the creek, to engineer and build a diversion structure to flume the creek. This diversion structure was Cleary’s own design and constructed by its in-house fabrication team.
Cleary worked closely with its bypass pumping sub to design and implement a much longer bypass FM than is commonly used, this extended (dually redundant) line was used to increase installation footage and to reduce the downtime experienced when moving a bypass system. Additionally, specific locations were chosen where the new trunkline was rerouted into the existing trunkline which resulted in expedited installation and often allowed for restored flows within hours.
Cleary’s collaboration with HPUD and Jacobs throughout the project kept communication open and allowed parties to work through any potential issues before they could cause major problems. This teamwork, coupled with innovative solutions and aggressive installation strategy, allowed Cleary to provide a fully functioning sewer while only using 83% of the allotted contract time.
Cleary Construction would like to thank its many subs and suppliers, most being NUCA members, for making this project a success. Core & Main supplied all pipe and appurtenances; Cleary used Caterpillar equipment on this project; the boring subcontractor exclusively used Barbco boring machines. East TN NUCA members, PRI completed the project paving and CTR Coatings performed the manhole coatings on the project. Westfield Insurance provided the bonding. VCE Inc. supplied the pre and post blast survey, while Austin Powder performed the blasting for rock removal. Loyston Quarry and Vulcan Materials provided stone for the project. Cross Country Infrastructure Services was utilized for bypass pumping and dewatering. United Rentals supplied trench boxes and shoring.
Benefit to the Client and Community
Cleary delivered a completed project in 2022 that was on time and under budget. The HPUD Pump station has seen major decreases in infiltration and overflows due to the installation of the new 48-in. DIP. This updated sewer trunkline will accommodate the large growth in this thriving community for years to come. Beyond the significant positive impacts to the environment and the lower operating cost experienced by the owner, the community has also benefited from the improved entrance to the Beaver Creek canoe landing and improved parking area for recreational purposes. Additionally, the local school system will benefit for years from the improved athletic lighting, flagpole, fencing, sodded softball field and sodded football practice field, all of which were provided by Cleary at no additional cost to the owner.
Cody Humphrey, Chief Operating Officer of the Hallsdale Powell Utility District, wrote: “Recently Cleary Construction, Inc. successfully completed the new Beaver Creek Interceptor Phase 2 project.
“The Beaver Creek Interceptor replacement project had many challenges for Cleary Construction like deep excavation, multiple creek crossing, flood plain areas, and multiple landowners to coordinate with. Since completion of the project HPUD is now seeing a large drop in flow from this pipeline project due to inflow/infiltration removal from this section of pipeline. Due to the reduced flow HPUD is having fewer sanitary sewer overflows throughout its system as well. Cleary Construction and Jacobs Engineering have made this project a success story. Although the project presented a number of challenges Clearly Construction met all Hallsdale Powell Utility District expectations. It was clear that Cleary has the knowledge and field experience to handle difficult project challenges.” Tags: Cleary Construction, Excellence in Underground Awards, September/October 2023 Print Issue
