Week 41, Part 2

As a part of the exterior finish on both Operations and Mechanical a product called Hardie Plank is being installed under the gables of both buildings-




In case you thought the bluest skies you’ve ever seen are in Seattle, well, they’re actually in Plummer, ID! (This picture has not been tested for Photoshop steroids yet…) Here’s a progress view of Mechanical from the southeast corner, still plenty of roof to install-



In the Office room of the Operations building some critical control panels have been installed-



And finally we pour the Chemical Storage containment pad- (they didn’t have any blue skies available this day)







The Belt/Filter Press room is done with the primer coat-



This is the UV room with a still-wet primer coat-



The Hardie Plank installation continues on Mechanical's south wall-



Electrical had to take a hard right turn at the PREM structure to route power for lights and a pump-



And finally in UV the trim is being primed before installation. That's all this week and we are almost up to date!

Week 41, Part 1

So this time we’ll take a concrete pad, a very small one, from beginning to end. Here Owens has carved out the dirt & gravel of our existing ground level, down to where structural gravel should be placed below a concrete pad for a large generator. This will be the emergency generator to run the plant during a power outage-



Using a laser and grade rod they set the gravel to the proper depth-



After it was rolled and tested for compaction, CNI laid out the corners with surveying equipment and built the forms. You can see the Mechanical building in the background. This generator will sit about 60’ north The electricians came in and stubbed-up their conduits which will receive the power lines from the generator. (This is not the finished form & rebar but gives you the general idea) -



Then we ordered 6 yards of concrete and a blue sky with white puffy clouds-



And, viola!- a generator pad, more complicated than you might think for a plain looking rectangle of concrete-



This week in the Mechanical building the taping crew wrapped up work. Here is the final phase in UV, sanding-



And they were sanding in the Belt Filter Press room as well-



The duct bank from Operations to Mechanical has extended over the past couple weeks. Here’s two ways of looking at it. The first looking mostly northeast towards Operations-



And here we’re looking west by southwest towards Mechanical-



More progress has been made lately on AeroMod control details. Much of the system is run on pneumatics so CNI pulled pneumatic lines out to the valves on the walls of the Treatment structure. AeroMod reps will finish the installation later-



This is the south wall of the Treatment structure. On top you see the end of one section of catwalk and a mud valve handle to the left of the railing. Down in the wall are the twin sludge draw-off pipes-



A close up of the sludge draw-off pipes. These will be tied into the “sludge line” and run underground over to the Belt/Filter Press room of the Mechanical building. This line enters through a pre-staged penetration in the foundation of that room. Below the floor there is a 90 degree bend and a pipe coming up through the floor waiting to tie into the Belt/Filter Press which is not installed yet. (Why? Because the taping crew is sanding there this week. There will be a quiz later- I assume you’re taking notes?!)-

Week 40, Part 2

Back to concrete forms. Here some CNI crew members form up the stairs that wrap around the northwest corner of the PREM structure-





The electricians needed to run conduit in the grade below the sidewalk and stair forms. The Challenger crew heats conduit before bending it to fit the channel in the gravel-



Speaking of conduit, the duct bank that is running between Operations and Treatment is slowly expanding in both directions. This is the segment which heads east of Operations towards a vault-





Then the concrete arrived (on a foggy morning!) for the sidewalk & stairs around the north and northwest corner of PREM-







In the meantime, after the grade was approved by compaction testing, CNI laid out and built forms for the Chemical Storage containment pad-





Ready for concrete! And that’s all for this week…

Week 40, Part 1

We haven’t looked inside the Treatment structure for a while. The AeroMod piping is basically finished at this point. Last time I shot the interior walls the vertical pipes were in place but not the fittings at the business end down below-



In Operations the Headworks walls were covered with metal liner panel for ease of cleaning. The ceiling is coated with a high gloss epoxy which also cleans well-





Here the taper gets started in the Blower room-



And when it’s all finished (the taping, not the room)-



After our weekly construction meeting Alan Gay, Project Engineer from USKH, reviewed the Phosphorous Removal process with Paul Sifford, City of Plummer Plant Operator, from the newly installed walkway-



The Maintenance-Storage room is looking nice with cured epoxy and now the electricians start to move some panels in-



A view from outside the overhead door bay entrance-



Just northwest of the PREM structure will sit two large chemical storage tanks inside a concrete containment pad with 18” curb walls. Here they've prepare the grade for the concrete forms-



Any gravel on which a structure is built has to be tested for compaction. All West is the testing agency for this project. Here Rod Willard, City of Plummer Public Works Director, and Jason from Owens Construction wait for the test results from All West-



Speaking of testing & inspection, here an All West inspector witnesses a CNI crew member torque bolts on the PREM roof structure-



And finally we began air-testing pipe this week. This is the trial run with the inflatable ball in an unfinished portion of a gravity sewer line for the Operations building. In this test you block both ends of a run of pipe, usually 100 to 300 feet at a time, and load the pipe with 3.5 psi and check whether the pressure drops over a short period of time-

Week 39, Part 2- Snow surprise and more interior work...

With such a mild winter we are always wondering if we've seen the last snow?!

Guess not!-



Owens continued to work on some process piping in Toetly road, the gravel road leading to the site. This is near the Influent Lift Station-



And here's a wide view of the site with a smattering of snow-



The access ladder with safety cage was installed at the PREM structure. Here's a view down a 20 foot ladder-



The CNI crew installs a generator in the Maintenance-Storage room of Operations-



Challenger Electric switches back from Mechanical, where they finished rough-in, to Operations where light fixtures need hanging-



The Belt Filter Press room now has drywall on the ceiling and is waiting for the taping crew. Here, as in the UV room, the insulated walls will be covered with metal liner panel for easy cleaning- they can just spray down the walls-



The Blower room has different insulation than the other CMU rooms. They are trying to dampen the noise from the blower units. Here the ceiling drywall is in place and they are ready to install drywall on the walls after the tapers have a head-start in the other rooms-



Here's a wide view of the Maintenance-Storage room with the generator set on the right-



And one last look at the Blower room; drywall is now complete and that's all for this week!