Gresham Smith Completes Construction at TRA Ten-Mile Creek Regional Wastewater System
Gresham Smith is pleased to announce the completion of upgrades at Trinity River Authority’s (TRA) Ten Mile Creek Regional Wastewater System facility. The firm assisted in replacing and repairing sludge pipelines, primary clarifiers, pumps and mechanical processes, as well as adding updated site lighting at the Dallas facility.
With over half the capacity of the treatment plant system installed in the mid-1980s and early 1990s, TRA enlisted Gresham Smith to implement master plan recommendations that addressed aging infrastructure. The firm replaced two primary clarifiers with galvanized steel mechanisms, rehabilitated sludge piping and designed a dual 8-inch pipeline replacement routed throughout the plant. These design solutions not only improve reliability to discharge sludge and scum from the plant’s primaries to the gravity thickeners, but they also better equip the facility for the future.
After completing the sludge pipeline rehabilitation, TRA also asked Gresham Smith to investigate recent challenges with one of Ten Mile Creek’s scum pumps. The project team mobilized to help plant staff identify issues with a worn out progressing cavity pump and provided maintenance solutions that could be performed by existing staff.
The team also completed a structural assessment to identify necessary repairs to structural concrete inside the clarifiers and effluent launders. Upon completing the assessment, the project team chose to use an epoxy filler crack injection method to repair the clarifier concrete walls. The team also designed a corrosion-resistant coating system to rehabilitate concrete in the effluent discharge box of the clarifiers.
“We have a longstanding relationship with the Trinity River Authority,” said Tim O’Brien, P.E., vice president at Gresham Smith. “When TRA needed mechanical improvements at their Ten Mile Creek facility, our team delivered a solution. We’re proud to assist TRA in upgrading their unit process equipment to not only enhance operations at their Ten Mile Creek facility, but also benefit residents of the Dallas area.”
In addition to pipeline and concrete rehabilitation, the firm also assisted TRA in upgrading the plant’s site lighting by converting bulbs to high mast LED. Not only are these bulbs more energy efficient, but they also enhance safety and operability for the plant staff at night.
Gresham Smith provided wastewater design, evaluation and construction services on this project, as well as electrical, mechanical, structural, and civil engineering services. The firm has assisted Trinity River Authority on several projects, including their on-call services contract as well as utility service and civil site design projects at their Denton Creek facility.