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Life Preservers BY DAVID R. MILLER, ASSOCIATE EDITOR PHOTOS COURTESY OF L. D’AGOSTINI & SONS, INC. ife preservers are commonly found near water because these simple floatation devices can help struggling swimmers stay afloat long enough for help to arrive. The waters that will eventually flow through the Oakwood Combined Sewer Overflow (CSO) in Detroit are obviously not fit for swimming, but the project team employed in the construction of the facility will benefit from their own distinctive variety of life preserver – the dedicated safety team that has effectively managed jobsite hazards thus far. The project team led by engineer CDM, Cambridge, MA; construction manager L. D’Agostini & Sons, Inc./Lakeshore Engineering Services Joint Venture, Macomb; and an able team of subcontractors
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including concrete contactor Barton Malow Co., Southfield; mechanical contractor De-Cal, Inc. Mechanical Contractors, Warren; and electrical contractor Shaw Electric Co., Livonia; has experienced no time-loss incidents to date [at press time]. When complete, the CSO will capture, screen and disinfect up to nine million gallons of water overflowing city sewers during heavy rains, thereby preventing the release or raw sewage into the Rouge River. Many challenges associated with the project relate to its sheer size. Barton Malow, for example, has already worked a total of 165,000 hours installing nine million pounds of reinforcing steel and 33,000 cubic yards of concrete, with more of each material on the “Voice Of The Construction Industry”®
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way. The 70-foot deep excavation for the pump station poses obvious fall hazards with confined space issues also impacting the subterranean work. Massive lifts are needed to place reinforcing bars for the concrete, but these thoroughly scripted evolutions are often not the riskiest jobsite activity. “It seems like the bigger tasks go off without a hitch because you’ve already done so much planning,” said Joe Benvenuto, project manager for Barton Malow. “It is the everyday tasks that are performed time and time again where you can get complacent after awhile.” Benvenuto credits Barton Malow’s safety culture for preventing this type of complacency on all jobs undertaken by the firm, but he also thinks that continuity of leadership has enhanced safety performance at the CSO. Barton Malow’s involvement with the project began in June 2007, yet many key players worked over the entire duration, including Alan Uhl, superintendent, John Suder, foreman, and Rick Bradley, assistant superintendent. Under the watchful eyes of countless industry veterans such as these, as well as those employed by L. D’Agostini & Sons, Inc./Lakeshore Engineering Services, the subcontractors are working with a level of professionalism that makes even the most complex tasks run smoothly. “On a job like this, there are alot of details that could slip through the cracks if no one was watching,” said Gino D’Agostini, project manager for L. D’Agostini & Sons, Inc. “Luckily, everyone here understands the program and how we want to operate.” The Oakwood CSO will also depend on a system of moving plate screens and six massive 72” pumps, plus two 54” pumps, all of which must also be precisely placed within an inch of their intended locations, to operate as intended. If these complex installations, along with countless other tasks, are completed as expected, the CSO will become operational during the summer of 2011.
The installation of the top slab reinforcement to the pump station required extensive coordination between the electrical, mechanical and reinforcing steel contractors.
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This massive pump station wet well measures 196 feet long by 66 feet wide, with a maximum depth of 70 feet. A slurry wall retention system technique, never used in Michigan before, was utilized during construction.
The completion of this pump station was a major milestone. It took approximately 60,000 work hours to reach this point – all performed with no time-loss incidents.
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APRIL 2010
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