YEA 2021 – Joseph. A Willhelm Industrial Pump Station

Lockwood, Andrews, and Newnam, Inc (LAN)

Project Location: Texas City, TX

Category: Water + Stormwater + Wastewater

Started: June 1, 2017

Completed: July 1, 2021

Project Budget: $20,040,000

Project Cost: $20,040,000

Project Leadership Team:

• Melissa Mack, P.E. – Vice President, Lockwood, Andrews & Newnam, Inc. (LAN)
• Brandon Wade, P.E. – General Manager / CEO, Gulf Coast Water Authority (GCWA)

Project Overview:  The Joseph A. Willhelm Industrial Pump Station Project began in 2010 when the Gulf Coast Water Authority (GCWA) retained LAN to evaluate a pump station built in 1949.  After evaluating various rehabilitation alternatives, LAN’s team determined that the risks associated with rehabilitation far outweighed the risks associated with constructing a new pump station.  The scope of this new pump station was wide and work included performing transient calculations to design surge relief facilities, site civil design of drainage and utility improvements, design of a new intake structure to accommodate three existing five-foot wide traveling screens and three new eight-foot wide traveling screens, relocation of the nine existing vertical turbine pumps, new steel pump discharge and header piping, and more.  When installing the three existing vertical turbine pumps, LAN’s team had to provide options for future replacement pumps with discharge above the pump house floor.  To allow for this, LAN’s discharge piping design included novel provisions for connection above or below the slab with minimal modifications.  The project also features unique pump discharge piping that is joined with rigid roll-grooved joints and couplings that make the installation of future connections much easier.  To support the new piping design, a custom-designed carbon steel pipe was installed with imbedded bolts.

Impact(s): This project is essential for maintaining uninterrupted water service GCWA’s customers in the Texas City Industrial Complex, which is a leading center in the United States for the petrochemical industry.  By ensuring this uninterrupted water to one of the area’s leading industries, the Joseph A. Willhelm Industrial Pump Station provides stability and growth to an industry that already supports upwards of 5,000 jobs in the area.  In addition, the updated pump station is built with sustainable materials such as stainless steel, fiberglass, and concrete that do not corrode and provide energy efficiency, long lifecycle, and lower lifecycle costs.  The new pump station is also designed to withstand hurricane conditions, something the old pump station was not designed for.

Highlights:

• Designed to withstand category 4 strength hurricane winds
• Expands GCWA delivery capacity by almost 25 percent
• Maintained continuous water supply throughout construction