Willmar's new wastewater treatment and conveyance project has been described by Mayor Les Heitke as the largest municipal project in the city's history.
Many of the 20 structures at the plant site are indeed large, including the four oxidation ditches where biological treatment begins when oxygen is introduced to the waste. There are two ditches for treating municipal waste and two for industrial waste. Each structure is roughly the size of a hockey rink and holds about 3.1 million gallons of water.
Among other statistics:
n Reiner Contracting will install 23,000 lineal feet of yard piping ranging in size from half-inch chemical lines to 54-inch influent and effluent pipe.
n About 25,000 cubic yards of concrete, 1,700 tons of reinforcing bar, and about 2,600 tons of steel -- enough to build 1,200 Ford F-150 pickup trucks -- will be placed.
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n Engineering America, manufacturer of Harvestore silos, has installed three 90-feet by 30-feet "Aquastore'' sludge storage tanks with enough panels on site to build seven standard 20-by-80 Harvestore silos.
n 37,000 feet of 36-inch, 48-inch and 54-inch diameter interceptor sewer and 30,000 feet of 8-inch and 16-inch diameter forcemain will be constructed.
Source: Donohue and Associates and Graham Construction Services
