December 2020

The existing plant is rated for 150,000 gallons per day but is only processing about 34,000 gpd with outdated equipment and technology. The new WWTP will match the design capacity of 150,000 gpd, and was designed to be easily expandable up to 250,000 gpd.

In 2010, Cecil County agreed to take over the ownership and operation of the Port Deposit WWTP.  Understanding the dire condition of the existing facility, replacement became a top priority.  As experienced previously by the Town, the County found it challenging to balance existing and potential capacity needs while developing an affordable strategy for replacement.  But facing a potential catastrophic failure of the existing tank structures, the County committed to replacing the facility even with no confirmed private contributions. 

Cecil County finally decided the best to expedite the design and construction was issue an RFQ/RFP for a lump-sum Guaranteed Maximum Price (GMP) design-build project.  The County had previously acquired several acres of land north of the existing plant and out of the flood plain, for the new WWTP.  However, the property was bounded to the north by a rock cliff, and to the south by the railroad, resulting in limited area to construct the new facility.  The County’s solicitation requested solutions to this complex problem which would meet immediate and future capacity needs, meet ENR discharge standards, and be feasible to construct on the acquired property.

As a result of the competitive solicitation process, Cecil County selected the American Contracting & Environmental Services (ACE) and KCI Technologies, Inc. (KCI) design team to design and construct the new plant.  The new treatment plant is a 3-train system (expandable to 4) and utilizes 4-stage Bardenpho Membrane Bioreactor (MBR) for the biological treatment process.  The discharge limits of 3.0 mg/l TN and 0.3mg/l TP requires high level of nutrient removal capacity which narrowed the possible treatment process alternatives significantly, given the useable area of the new site.

GHD served as the Bridging Engineer during the RFQ/RFP process and currently serves as the Owner Advisor during construction.  The ACE/KCI team is scheduled to designed, constructed and commissioned the entire plant in a period of approximately 18 months.

To meet this ambitious schedule, the Design-Build team chose Dutchland to build the precast post-tensioned process tanks. Dutchland constructed a MBR/EQ/Sludge tank with common walls that measured 106’-8” long by 32’-10” wide with tank wall heights varying from 13’ to 16’.  The tank included 84 precast pieces and was installed in two days! Click on the link to watch the installation.

The design-build approach, combined with choosing Dutchland precast concrete, has greatly accelerated the speed at which the project is being completed.  The project is currently on schedule to reach substantial completion in January, 2021 after which the existing wastewater plant will be decommissioned and demolished to grade. 

Dutchland was proud to partner with the ACE/KCI team to work alongside the County and GHD to solve the wastewater challenge for the Town and surrounding area.

Reeves Young was tasked with constructing the 1.25 MGD A. Scott Emmons Wastewater Treatment Plant for the Newton County Water & Sewage Authority in Social Circle, GA under the CMAR delivery method. The brand new facility was needed to support a growing industrial park in Newton County and is named after the beloved, long-tenured, late Chief Engineer of Newton County, Arthur Emmons. The project, however, posed numerous challenges, including budget constraints, site access, and the Covid-19 pandemic.

The first challenge this project endured was due to its remote location. The site location was located about two miles away from any other buildings or structures, meaning a significant amount of work was required to bring simple utilities to the site.  The second challenge faced on this project was the unprecedented situation caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The effects of COVID-19 on project finances as well as logistics challenged the entire team to design and build the facilities in order to reduce cost and also limit the number of manhours required onsite to limit exposure of field staff to the virus.

To combat the challenge of a site with no clear access, the Reeves Young team first constructed a road into the site to make sure there was appropriate access for construction deliveries and site logistics.  In addition, because of the disconnect between the design and construction budget, our team got creative and generated cost savings by reducing the overall site footprint, combining structures to utilize common-wall construction, and modifying construction materials used. According to Steven McMillan, Reeves Young Project Executive, “the biggest project benefit, though, was choosing Dutchland precast for the tank structure. By working with Dutchland to bring the first precast superstructure for the wastewater industry to the Georgia market, significant cost benefits were realized, and the onsite staff was better utilized to reduce the impact to manhours and mitigate COVID-19 virus exposure.”

Dutchland crews installed the 2.6 MG precast post-tensioned SBR tank in 6 days. The tank measured 206’-4” long by 84’-10” wide by 22’ tall and was installed by a 9-person construction crew.

Dutchland was proud to partner with Reeves Young to contribute to a overall project savings of 32% while maintaining the project schedule and simultaneously limiting the Covid-19 virus exposure.

Summer of 2020

Dutchland constructed a a precast SBR tank for the Bath Borough WWTP in Northampton County, PA.  The 1.2 MG rectangular tank measures 129’ long by 63’-6” wide with 19’-6” tall wall panels.  The tank also includes a precast splitter box that is 7’-4” taller thank the tank walkways to divert flows into separate chambers.

The Bath Borough Wastewater Treatment Plant expansion was designed by Jacqueline Peleschak, PE, of Benesch, to replace a 50+ year old plant and meet the anticipated increase of stringent effluent limits. In addition to the SBR tank, the upgraded facility includes automated screening, grit removal and ultraviolet disinfection for the process flow prior to discharge to the stream at the location of the existing plant. Space is also included for installation of tertiary filters between the SBRs and the digesters for future use if necessary. Sludge handling is accomplished by aerobic digestion and a rotary press. Dewatered sludge is continuing to be hauled to an approved landfill.

The Bath Borough WWTP Upgrade was a great partnership between Benesch, the project engineers, PACT Construction, the general contractor, and Dutchland, Inc. This new facility decreases operations cost by reducing the labor and capital costs for the repair and/or replacement of the aging equipment. In addition, the plant provides updated technology to ensure the treatment plant is compliant with their effluent permit limits.

Thank you!

Team Dutchland donated over 50 turkeys to The Factory Ministries to assist families in need this Thanksgiving.