North Fork Pump Station

Building Codes and Budgets Converge

The challenge was to design a pump station that not only met tight budgeting and scheduling requirements, but also adhered to strict building appearance codes to conform to the guidelines of the gateway zone they are located in on the major approach road into historic Albemarle County.

As part of the $10.7 million North Fork Regional Pump Station project, Virginia’s Albemarle County Service Authority (ACSA) demolished the existing Camelot Wastewater Treatment Plant and their Research Park pump station. The construction of two remotely located regional pump stations replaced the out-going stations. The two are located across from each other on the busy Route 29 divided highway and are joined by 1,500 ft of 12-in. force main. Each pump station includes emergency standby generators, instrumentation and SCADA systems.

ACSA met their budget in part by specifying an Easi-Set precast concrete transportable building. The design called for a brick finish with a metal standing seam roof. Cost-savings in materials were achieved by using an Easi-BrickTM grid in the Smith-Midland Corporation precast plant to simulate brick on the 10 wall panels that comprised the 20-ft x 30-ft buildings. This method also produced savings by removing the cost of on-site masons. The design also called for a non-standard height of 13 feet. The use of 13-ft-high precast wall panels simplified construction and eliminated the use of a knee wall. Delivery and assembly of the wall and roof panels was completed in only two days, saving weeks over on-site construction methods.