Gillette Regional Water Supply Program

Summary

As a result of the burgeoning energy industry, which increased the Wyoming’s population by 50 percent during a 10-year period, the state of Wyoming embarked on the largest state-funded municipal project to provide a regional water source. We provided planning, program and project management, design, and construction phase services (including full-time construction observation) for this large-scale project.

The project includes a new Madison Formation Well Field, 52 miles of 36- and 42-inch diameter pipeline, a 23.5-million-gallon-per-day (MGD) pump station, a 1-MG storage tank, an on-site sodium hypochlorite disinfection generation facility, three miles of 18-inch waterline, and a water blending facility.

Our team also provided hydraulic modeling and surge analysis of the entire water system to accurately determine future demands, storage requirements, waterline sizes, pressures, flows and overall water quality. The 24 MGD pump station includes seven 450HP variable speed-controlled vertical turbine pumps.

A dedicated electrical room was also designed to house the variable frequency drives (VFDs) and power distribution equipment. In addition to upstream and downstream surge tanks, pump-control valves were integrated into the pump start/stop sequence to minimize hydraulic surge and instrumentation controls included magnetic flow meters, pump suction and discharge pressure transmitters, station suction and discharge pressure transmitters, and security access control and monitoring.

Designs were provided for both allowable pipeline materials for the 42-inch waterline: steel and ductile iron. Pipeline permitting included the Wyoming Department of Transportation, Campbell County, Crook County, the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers, the Bureau of Land Management, Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad, the Bureau of Reclamation, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and environmental and cultural sections of the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality. Right-of-way needs were determined and obtained for both permanent and temporary easements.

Services

• Program management
• 52 miles of steel water line
• 1 MG storage tank
• 24 MGD pump station
• System modeling
• Design and construction phase services
• Construction management
• Construction inspection
• Valve, interconnect, blowoff design
• Multiple waterway crossings
• Interstate crossings
• Extensive permitting