Progress in Pasco

Murraysmith engineers worked with the City of Pasco to design:

• A new intake on the Columbia River
• A 10 MGD initial capacity pump station with future firm capacity of 20 MGD
• A 30-inch diameter pipeline to convey raw water to the City’s existing water treatment plant

These three elements will significantly increase reliability of the City’s water supply infrastructure and accommodate population growth.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bkYxVM2W24w

A little bit more about the project:

Columbia River Intake

Installation of the river intake includes a 70-foot-deep secant wall system, designed and installed for shoring of the excavation. This will ultimately become the wet well for the intake pumps.  A 46-inch diameter raw water intake pipe was installed via microtunneling from the bottom of the 26-foot diameter secant wall system out to the Columbia River, where two 42-inch diameter stainless steel intake screens will be installed.

The permitting process was extensive and required federal agency review of the intake screen installation to verify no impact to fish listed in the Endangered Species Act. To meet permitting requirements, the intake screen and microtunnel pipe were installed during specific in-water work periods to minimize impacts to protected species.

Pump Station

The Contractor, Apollo, Inc. is finishing the concrete work on the inside of the wet well and will soon construct the pump station building located above the wet well. Initially, two 250 horsepower raw water intake pumps will be installed, with up to three pumps added in the future to provide the 20 MGD firm capacity – meeting the City’s buildout needs. The City will be able to increase their irrigation water supply, as the existing raw water intake pumps will be reconfigured to supply the City’s wholesale irrigation supply system.

Pipeline

A 30-inch diameter ductile iron raw water pipeline will be installed to meet the future capacity needs of the pump station and water treatment plant. As part of the installation, a conduit bank will be installed adjacent to the pipeline to provide standby power generation from the treatment plant, back to the pump station.

Murraysmith has designed many water supply projects in the Pacific Northwest and is proud to design projects that increase reliability and help meet future water system needs of our clients.

Congratulations to our core Murraysmith project team of Eddie Kreipe and Andy Szatkowski!

Photography and videography by Josh Humbert Photography