Construction

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Work Completed

August/September 2021

Asbestos removal from solids building incinerators.
Removal of the inner brick and asbestos layers in the incinerator smoke stake.
Trailer park (lay down area).
Temporary belt filter presses (BFP) hooked up and running.
Temporary solids rerouting from DAF 3 to the temporary BFPs.
Temporary power has been rerouted to the Administration Building.
Selective demolition has started on the Solids Building.
The pad has been poured for the radio tower control building.
The radio tower has been erected.

October 2021

The smoke stack is gone!
Boilers to provide heat to the Admin Building were installed just in time for winter.
Concrete pads for temporary dewatering facility were installed.

November/December 2021

Temporary building placed around the relocated and refurbished belt presses.
Solids Building demolition continues with sorting debris and hauling off site to be recycled.
Demolition of gas storage tank cover and mechanisms for possible reuse for equalization in new sidestream treatment process.
Temporary facilities installed for digester microaeration pilot.
New boiler system installed to provide heat to the Admin Building.
Installed test piles to evaluate foundation requirements for new Solids Building.

January 2022

Digester feed switched from east holding tank to DAF 3.
East holding tank cleaning has started in preparation for modifications.
Building demolished and cleanup wrapping up.

February/March 2022

The east holding tank has been cleaned out.
Selective demolition has been completed in DAF 1 and DAF 2.

April/May 2022

Helical pile installation in the truck loadout area.
Helical pile caps in the Biosolids basement.
Shoring in East Holding Tank in preparation for roof demolition.

June/July 2022

North and south shear walls to include shoring and decks above the solids building basement.
Pile cap installation for the polymer tanks on the operations floor level.
Wet well overflow piping installed underground from the existing vault to the wet well riser locations.

August-November 2022

Solids building ground floor suspended slab.
East holding tank roof demolition.
Sludge wet well base slab and walls.
Thermal Hydrolysis Process (THP) structural slab on grade.
North parking lot.
Cambi equipment arrived for the THP system.
Foundation work began for the cake storage and unloading structure.

Upcoming Construction Plans

August/September 2021

Installation of a new natural gas line to the Administration Building to replace an aging pipeline.
Solids Building demolition, anticipated to last approximately 12 weeks, will remove the existing building down to the current foundation. A new Solids Building will be constructed in its place.
A Microaeration Pilot Study to test an air injection system to reduce hydrogen sulfides in the digesters.

October 2021

Demolition of the Solids Building is ongoing.

November/December 2021

Complete Solids Building and incinerator demolition.
Begin microaeration pilot for reducing H2S concentrations in digester biogas.
Sludge Phasing Plan 3 – temporary facilities will route sludge to DAF 3 and allow the East Holding Tank to be removed from service for cleaning and required improvements.
Pressure testing of Birmingham and Westside forcemains.
Assessment of whether gas storage tank will be structurally suitable for reuse as equalization basin for new Sidestream treatment process.

January 2022

Inspection of the existing solids building basement and foundation.
Installation of deep piles for the new foundation.
Switching communications back over from cellular to radio.

February/March 2022

Demolition of the east holding tank roof and installation of a geodesic roof.
Completion of helical pile caps.

April/May 2022

Concrete cap foundation on the helical piles.
Electrical ductbank.
East Holding Tank roof demolition.
Columns and shear walls in Biosolids building.

June/July 2022

Completion of the operations floor drain system and pile caps openings.
Delivery of the new metal building structure components.
New pour in-place beams and decks above the solids building basement.

August-November 2022

Concrete for the cake storage and unloading foundation.
Form and place concrete for the solids building columns and walls.
Complete assembly of the Cambi (THP) equipment and canopy.
Repair east holding tank upper walls.
Refurbish DAF 1 and 2 into the new sidestream treatment system.
Design completion.

The THP has landed

Election Week 2022 was exciting for Kansas City! During this time, a milestone was reached with the arrival of the Thermal Hydrolysis Process (THP) equipment from Cambi. Whether you were focused on what was on the ballot or the pallet, the week was one to remember.

KC Water hosts tour at future biosolids facility site for local and congressional leaders

On August 17, representatives from congressional offices, US Water Alliance Chief Executive Officer Mami Hara, Environmental Protection Agency Region 7 Water Division Director Jeff Robichaud, and Mayor Quinton Lucas visited the biosolids facility site for a brief program followed by a short walking tour of the site to see the importance and need for federal infrastructure investments.

What’s the fuss about THP?

The Blue River wastewater treatment plant – the plant that processes the vast majority of solids in Kansas City’s wastewater – retired its half-century old incinerators to adopt new technology, a thermal hydrolysis process (THP). But, what exactly is THP, and how does it work? To answer these questions, let’s look back at how Kansas City wastewater has been processed for the past five decades.