T
he evacuated pump stations in Jeffer- son Parish of New Orleans did not stand a chance against the
force of water surging through during Hurricane Katrina in 2005. As a city below sea level on the coast of the Gulf of Mexico, New Orleans relies on engineered drainage systems, including a number of pump stations, to force water out of the canals and waterways surrounding the city into the gulf and Lake Pontchar- train. With electricity out and station operators evacuated, the pumps sat idle. With the pool of water on the outside higher than normal during the hurricane, the water to be drained out of the region had no direction to go but back into the parish. “Tat was a consideration in the design of the type of pump [for the new station in the West Closure Complex of the Gulf Intercoastal Water Way],” said Tim Connell, Army Corps of Engineers project manager for the pump station. “We chose not to use that type to make sure if there was ever a condition where the pumps didn’t work, there was no way to have backflow from the outside into the area we are trying to drain off.” Te new $500-million pump sta-
tion operates at the point where New Orleans’ Harvey and Algiers canals meet. Te station consists of 11 massive pumps designed to pump 19,140 cu. ft. of water per second. It was constructed in less than two years as part of the Army Corps of Engineers’ region-wide plan to avoid another devastating flood. Smaller drainage pump stations in
New Orleans operate year-round to keep water levels safe throughout a typ- ical rainy season. Te record-breaking station was built in case of emergency and likely will be used roughly once every three years during storm surges and hurricanes, Connell said. Te pump station is designed to keep the pumps going on diesel generators should the electricity go out. Te next time a storm hits, it will be up to the pumps—and their castings— to keep water flowing up to 800,000
gallons per minute from flooding the West Bank area of New Orleans.
Speed a Priority Hurricane season looms menacingly
in New Orleans after Katrina, so the Army Corps of Engineers embarked on an aggressive timetable to complete the West Closure Complex project by July 2011. Te Army Corps of Engineers had to work fast (the project was approved in early 2009), so it used the early contrac- tor involvement (ECI) method during the design, bid and build phases to push the project forward. With just 20% of its plans and specifications in place, it began soliciting interest from potential builders to join the project and help with the design. “I use the term miraculous when I think of all the effort and entities involved [to meet the timeframe],” Connell said. “Te interesting thing with the ECI method is you don’t have to wait for complete designs to start work. As soon as we had a site plan package ready, the contractor was issued the site package and could start clearing the land without having the foundation package finished or final pump station design.” Because the pumping equipment
required a long lead time, the Army Corps of Engineers listed pump pro- curement as a separate contract, which
was issued before a notice to proceed on the rest of the project. Each of the 11 pumps, produced
by Fairbanks Morse/Pentair Water, Kansas City, Kan., contain around 100,000-lbs. of castings, supplied by a handful of metalcasters throughout the U.S. Bay Cast Inc., Bay City, Mich., produced 20,000-lb., 120-in. diameter stainless steel propellers, as well as 11,500-lb. housings for each pump. High on the list of qualifications for the casting supplier was the ability to meet the delivery date. “We were qualified to do the job, and the customer liked knowing that this would be a big project for our business, so we would be responsive to their needs,” said Max Holman, presi- dent and part owner of Bay Cast. “It was a benefit to be a family business.” When Decatur Foundry Inc.,
Decatur, Ill., took on the job to pro- duce 11 inlet castings, it was commit- ting to providing one 10,000-lb. cast- ing a week to meet Fairbanks Morse’s machining pump assembly require- ments, starting in the spring of 2010, according to Terry Young, president of the iron casting company. “Several months after the casting
deliveries were completed, we were thrilled to receive emails of photos of the pump installation in progress from the customer,” Young said.
The West Closure Complex drainage pump station is the largest in the world. March 2012 MODERN CASTING | 33
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