New City of Marysville Inflatable Dam Pump Station

In 2007, H.R. Gray was retained as the construction manager for the Marysville (Ohio) Upground Reservoir Project. With a total budget of $24,000,000, the project originally consisted of four contracts providing a complete system to capture water from Mill Creek, pump it to the new reservoir, and ultimately deliver the water to the Marysville Water Plant.

One of the four contracts encompasses the construction of the dam, intake structure and pump station building in addition to the installation of an inflatable dam purchased under a separate contract with the dam manufacturer. Depending upon the flow rates and water levels in Mill Creek and other environmental conditions, the pump station will be capable of providing water to the reservoir at a rate of up to 40 million gallons per day. In addition to the control center in the pump station that monitors stream flows and levels at the dam, the City of Marysville can be able to maintain historical data and report all of the data to the main water plant. The City of Marysville can also monitor water levels in the reservoir via remote transmitters.

In order to meet the City’s desired completion date, an additional contract was issued for the design and procurement of an inflatable dam and associated controls. The inflatable dam system monitors upstream water levels and downstream water flow, as well as adjusts the amount of water diverted to the reservoir in order to maintain environmentally-friendly flow conditions. One of the challenges on this project was that the manufacturer of the original inflatable dam specified in the contract documents was unable to meet the delivery schedule. As a result, H.R. Gray researched alternate manufactures to find a similar product that would provide the same functionality and control. The team was actually able to find a new product that exceeded the contract specifications, met the delivery schedule, and was less expensive than the original. This new dam also provides the city operators more control of the water level and flows across the dam. The multiple air bladders are able to be inflated independently, which allows the operator to vary the amount of air in the dam on a day-to-day basis making the dam a more efficient and effective tool.

However, as the size and configuration of the new dam was physically different than what was originally specified, H.R. Gray needed to coordinate changes with the general trades contractor to accommodate the differences. Additionally, changes were made to the pump station to revise the concrete floor and make modifications within the control systems. All this work was completed in advance, which avoided any costly “rework”.

Even with the additional requirement of including a fire suppression system in the pump station, the entire project was completed in February 2009

 

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