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City hires design engineers for well house renovations
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By CHUCK CLEMENT, Staff Reporter
| 01/26/2010 |
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The Madison City Commission approved signing an agreement with Banner Engineering of Brookings so the firm can provide design work and other services for the renovation of the municipal water department's Well House No. 8.
Banner engineers had inspected the well house, located near the city water treatment plant, in late July 2009. They determined that the 45-year-old facility needed improvements, including piping changes, a new pump, removal of a suspended walkway, and reinforcement of structural steel beams.
After the inspection, the engineers estimated that the bottom flange of two steel I-beams -- which support the well's concrete top slab -- had deteriorated by 25 percent since the structure's construction in 1965.
To repair the structural beams, the engineers have proposed reinforcing the two I-beams by attaching metal bracing to the bottom flanges. In addition, the Banner engineers have advised removing a suspended platform and plugging the holes in the steel beams used by the platform's metal hangers. Workers will also scrape and sandblast the I-beams to remove any rust and coat the steel to prevent further deterioration.
Heath VonEye, municipal public works director, assisted the commissioners in reviewing Banner's report and service agreement proposal. VonEye said the suspended platform was used in the past for checks on a flow meter in the well, but that the platform was currently unsafe for workers to access. Part of the renovation project plans call for installing a new flow meter closer to the operating floor.
Commissioner Dick Ericsson assured the commissioners that the improvements which Banner engineers had proposed were needed. Ericsson has visited the well house and seen the physical condition of the facility. He said the city should remove the suspended platform to eliminate a safety risk to its personnel.
When asked by Mayor Gene Hexom, VonEye told the commissioners that Well No. 8 was the only structure of its kind that the city possessed. VonEye said that the money to pay for the renovations was already available in the city's 2010 budget.
Banner estimated that its fee for design work and project bid assistance would total $7,400. In addition, the firm's inspection costs during construction were estimated at $4,000 for a combined amount of $11,400.
The renovations are scheduled for later this year. In the agreement, Banner Engineering predicted that its personnel would complete the design work and prepare the project for bid by March 15.
The commissioners also set a bid opening date of Feb. 17 at 1:30 p.m. for suppliers to bid on providing electrical-related material for this summer's downtown alley improvement project. The city plans to resurface an alley that runs parallel to Egan Ave., and workers will rebuild that alley's electrical infrastructure.
The bid involves supplying the city with padmount distribution transformers, 15 kilovolt power cable, secondary power cable, padmount switches and street light poles.
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©Madison Daily Leader 2010
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