DAF Monthly Message
WATER TREATMENT PLANT, NEW PRE-TREATMENT SYSTEM
May 2017
Editor: Amy Cloud ([email protected])
Project Engineer: Freeman Anthony (360/778-7924, [email protected])
The work week has shortened to four days, is that slowing construction progress?
Not at all. We’re really chugging along and utilizing a lot of local professionals. This month we began on
the foundation for the new water treatment plant – excavating for the trench drains, laying down fabric
and then ballast rock (from Cowden Gravel) a foot
deep on top of that fabric.
We also began layout for installation of the new plant’s
drains and floor drains (utilizing Pacific Surveying and
Engineering), which will be reinforced with steel and
concrete for structural integrity (and all inspected by
GeoTest.) Drains were installed and inspected by City
staff.
What else?
Planning by the electrical subcontractor is ongoing. And some work has been done inside the current
generator room (which houses the back-up generator for the water treatment plant and the pending
DAF plant.) And we’ve put in new conduits for connections to the electrical transfer switch.
And then what?
Next we’ll laying down steel reinforcement on top of the slab, above the waterproofing. Once the steel
is inspected and approved, a water-stop material will be placed where the concrete will be joined – to
ensure against water infiltration into the new building and so that the tanks inside do not leak out.
Once this work is done, we’ll be ready to pour concrete – two-feet thick – into the DAF base slab forms.
Also good to know:
Our contractor's crews are working a four-day week, 7 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., Monday through Thursday (not
including holidays) – with occasional Fridays on the job, in order to accommodate some sub-contractors.
As always, weather conditions could influence activity at the construction site. Flaggers are posted at
the corner of Arbor Court and Silver Beach Road, and near the intersection of Silver Beach Road and
Lakeway Drive, entering Whatcom Falls Park.
By the way, if you’ve missed any of these monthly updates, they’re archived on the City’s website. From
the home page, “search” Capital Projects and then DAF. You’ll find the Monthly Messages going back to
November 2016.
And… why are we doing this?
This is to make sure the City's drinking water - drawn from Lake Whatcom - is as clean and safe as it can
be. We are building a Dissolved Air Flotation (DAF) pre-treatment plant to remove as many as
particulates as possible from the water, in order to maximize the City's Water Treatment Plant
efficiency. For more project information, click here.
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