Sewer Systems
One of Whitaker Construction's recent advertisements presents an
interesting question. Which is the world's greatest invention, the wheel or
plumbing? At Whitaker, we'd probably have to say plumbing because, well,
that's what has kept us in business for the last fifty years. In those
fifty years we'd have to say that installing sewer systems has been our
bread and butter. Whitaker Construction is proud to have installed sewer
systems for cities all over the place from Bellevue, ID (Sun Valley) to
West Haven, UT. With many places in between like Smithfield, Bear Lake,
Nibley, and Solitude & Brighton Ski Resorts up Big Cottonwood Canyon to name
a few.
Every sewer project Whitaker tackles has its own set of challenges, whether it's high groundwater or lots of utilities to contend with. We feel we've become the best around at it and our employees work hard to make sure we just keep getting better. No matter what kind of pipe (PVC, RCP, or even HDPE) or what the conditions might be Whitaker Construction is up to the challenge.
Water Systems Replacement
Whitaker Construction is the general contractor on this $3.5 million project to replace and upgrade the water system of the former Defense Depot in Ogden. The Depot has been turned over to Ogden city for commercial development and the city is in the process of updating the infrastructure in order to serve the new tenants. The project consists of installing over 80,000-ft of 6”-12” water distribution piping, valves, fire hydrants and connections to the existing buildings. Work on the project is complicated due to the 50-yr old existing utilities, areas that were not well mapped by the government in the past and the concurrent design of new sewer and storm drain systems and road improvement projects.
This type of project is well suited to Whitaker Construction because of the skilled crews needed to negotiate the maze of existing utilities and the meticulous coordination with the city, tenants and the design engineer. Brian Hamson, the Project Superintendent, has built a strong working relationship with the owner and engineer to work out the many changes in the work and keep the crews installing pipe. Crews on the project have worked hard and have been able to install nearly 1,000-ft per day on several occasions. Whitaker currently has four pipeline crews working on the project installing the main lines and making connections to the existing system and buildings. The project is nearing 50% complete and Whitaker hopes to have all the pipe in by the time paving season begins in the spring.
Natural Gas Pipe Installation
Whitaker Construction Company is one of a handful of contractors that is certified by Questar Gas to install natural gas pipelines for them. Currently Whitaker Construction has a contract for Zone 4 through December 2003. Zone 4 consists of North Salt Lake County (north of 3900 so.) and South Davis County (south of Lund Lane in Centerville) from east to west boundaries, and all of Tooele County. This means that Whitaker installs every new gas main and gas service needed within that zone. Over the last year the four Whitaker Gas Crews have installed nearly 220,000 lf of gas piping and approximately 1800 gas services generating nearly 1.3 million in revenue. The Company has been the Zone 4 contractor since January 2001, and has been working for Questar Gas since 1994. In addition to the zone work, Questar bids out replacement and special budget projects. The most significant of these projects that Whitaker has completed are the Ogden Valley Expansion project constructed in 1996 and 1997, and more recently the installation of the Olympic Cauldron Gas Line in 2001.
Recreation Development
Specialty work that Whitaker Construction Company has excelled in over the past 50 years is recreational sites. Whitaker has been involved in many projects of this type from the upgrade of existing infrastructures to the complete design and development of campground facilities. Clients include the U.S. Department of Agriculture-Forest Service, the State of Utah Division of Parks and Recreation and the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation. Projects that Whitaker Construction has completed include Rendezvous Beach State Park, Redman Campground, Spring Hollow Campground, Jordanelle State Park and Willard Bay State Park.
The company’s relationship with Rendezvous Beach State Park began in 1978 with the utility construction of Willow Campground. The second phase completed at Rendezvous Beach was the Cottonwood Campground expansion, which was constructed in 1982 and most recently Whitaker completed the Birch Campground Design Build expansion project in 2001. This included 60 state of the art, full service campsites and 6 group facilities. Other notable projects that have been completed for the Division of Parks and Recreation include the site utility work for both Jordanelle and Willard Bay State Parks.
During the summers of 2000 and 2001 Whitaker completed two campground restoration projects for the USDA-Forest Service. Redman Campground in Big Cottonwood Canyon consisted of the redevelopment of the spring source for the water supply, the installation of an underground water storage tank and water distribution system. Included in this contract was the installation of a sanitary sewer line to be used by the camp host and future restroom upgrades. Whitaker completed the excavation and utility connections for the building contractor of that later project. Spring Hollow Campground consisted of the installation of a new water system, including an underground storage tank and distribution lines. Other items include concrete pads with fire circles, footbridges, and reconstructing a rock masonry low water stream crossing.
Industrial Waste Collection System
When the State of Utah mandated that Thiokol Corporation install an Industrial/Wastewater Collection System at its Promontory Utah facility, it was the start of another successful project and satisfied client for Whitaker Construction. The Thiokol project included the construction of over 81,000 feet of Industrial Waste collection lines, force mains, three lift stations and separate sanitary sewer system. Work on this $3.5 million project was completed on a compressed schedule in order to meet State of Utah’s deadlines.
Whitaker Construction personnel worked hand in hand with the management staff at Thiokol to resolve issues and keep the project on schedule. Thiokol is an active manufacturing/test facility that produces solid rocket motors for NASA and the Department of Defense. Because of the type of work done at Thiokol, interruption of the facilities operations was not permissible and work in sensitive areas had to be scheduled around the client’s needs. Whitaker Construction is very proud of the work done on the project and even more proud of the “overall performance rating of excellent” given by Gary Eddings, Thiokol’s major subcontract administrator. Thiokol – Industrial Waste Collection System, another great Whitaker Construction project.
Utility Tunnels
One of the most unique and challenging projects ever tackled by Whitaker Construction was the $22.5 million Utah State University Utility Tunnel Project. The project scope included the construction of 6,200-ft of cast-in-place concrete utility tunnels, a new campus steam distribution system, and numerous relocations of existing utilities. The tunnels typically had 5 to 7-ft of cover with excavation depths ranging from 17-19-ft. Tunnel excavation and shoring was typically 16-ft wide with wider excavation up to 30-ft required at the tunnel intersections or ‘nodes’. Inside the tunnel, a new 14” Steam distribution pipeline and 8” condensate return main were constructed with laterals serving each building along the route. The tunnels have a complete lighting & ventilation system and even a communications system that allows university personnel to use their existing radio system inside the tunnel.
There were two main challenges faced on the project. First, constructing this massive project throughout an active university campus with 15,000 students and second, dealing with the relocation or protection of all of the campus utilities that the tunnel crossed. To deal with these challenges, Whitaker Construction developed an innovative plan to use steel trench boxes coupled together and installed end-to-end for hundreds of feet to protect the workers during tunnel construction. By using trench boxes in this way, the excavation width was kept to a minimum and it reduced the disturbance to the existing utilities and the campus. Overall the project was a great success, with the university receiving a high quality project in a very short amount of time.