Additional Civil Engineering Services
CIVIL SITE DESIGNS FOR A PILOT ORE SORTING PLANT. EarthFax provided civil site and hydrologic engineering services to a major hard rock mine located in northern Utah. These services were provided to assist in the construction of a new pilot-scale sorting plant. Services included designing an access/haul road from the existing roadway to the new sorting plant site. The road design included plan and profile drawings that identified grade, width, and geometric improvements. Site-wide hydrologic calculations were developed to facilitate designing adequate sedimentation and detention basins, surface channel designs, and details. Cross sectional drawings of the overall site drainage were used to determine cut and fill balance volumes for construction cost estimating purposes. Drainage ditch and culvert locations and sizes were also determined to provide proper drainage control. Additionally, topsoil volumes and reclamation requirements were identified for disturbed areas.
CIVIL SITE DESIGNS FOR A WASTE WATER TREATMENT SYSTEM. EarthFax provided civil site design services for an electric utility company that was installing a new waste water treatment plant in southwestern Wyoming. The treatment system was a package plant with an adjacent pre-fabricated steel building. EarthFax prepared site grading and drainage plans including finish grading, drainage, and geometric improvements for maintenance, traffic, parking, and sludge storage areas. Site utility designs included drainage ditches and culverts for storm water control, sanitary sewer lines for connecting the existing sewer mains to the new plant, and extensions for connecting existing utilities (e.g., firewater, seal water, and potable water) to the new facility. We prepared technical specifications and engineer’s construction cost estimates for the civil site and utility work portions of the project. We also provided a topographic base map for use in site grading and utility design.
DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT SERVICES FOR RESTORATION OF AN URBAN POND. As a result of the June 2010 Chevron Pipeline Company Milepost 174.5 release of crude oil into Red Butte Creek, oil from the release reached Liberty Park pond requiring extensive cleanup and recovery operations. This 9-acre urban pond is the central feature of Liberty Park located in Salt Lake City, Utah. Following removal of crude oil contaminated sediments in the pond, restoration activities were conducted under the supervision of EarthFax personnel. These activities included re-designing and replacing the existing pond aeration system; replacing the existing sod and sprinkler system around the pond; and designing and replacing the containment wall around the pond including sidewalks, curbing, the headwall at the effluent point of the pond, and the north ingress/egress ramp. EarthFax provided plans, specifications, and engineering cost estimates to assist in the construction bid process. We also subcontracted portions of the construction work and provided construction inspection services to the client to ensure that quality-of-work standards were achieved.
CIVIL AND GEOTECHNICAL DESIGN SERVICES FOR TWO CRUDE OIL TANKS. EarthFax provided civil and geotechnical design services for the installation of two new 80,000-barrel crude oil tanks at a petroleum refinery in northern Utah. Civil engineering project tasks included preparation of design drawings showing all above-ground and underground utilities in the areas proposed for each tank; establishing setback distances for utilities and spacing of the tanks to comply with facility and fire-protection design standards; developing grading plans that achieve the desired tank elevations and provide containment berms in compliance with SPCC regulations; preparing as-built drawings of the final locations of the tanks once construction activities were completed; and amending the facility SPCC plan to include the new tanks. Geotechnical services included installation of cone penetrometer borings within the footprint of each tank to identify the existing subsurface soil stratigraphy and determine geotechnical engineering properties; and preparation of geotechnical reports that include pile capacity and spacing recommendations, settlement analyses, and foundation recommendations for walkways and pile support structures. EarthFax also provided construction inspection services and coordinated compaction testing activities. As work got underway, EarthFax was retained to provide additional design and construction supervision services for installation of supplemental cone-penetrometer borings; construction of firewater distribution lines and hydrants, industrial sewer lines and mixer drains; and storm water storage improvements. We also surveyed and staked pile locations, supervised pile installation activities, supervised dynamic pile and compaction activities, and supervised pile cap construction activities.
EARTHFAX COMPLETES CIVIL ENGINEERING DESIGNS AT A POZZOLAN MINE IN CENTRAL UTAH. EarthFax completed civil engineering designs for a central Utah pozzolan mine located adjacent to U.S. Interstate Highway 70. Project work included roadway design for a gravel haul road from the mine to I-70 and hydraulic design for reduction of storm water flow beneath I-70. Given the costs and safety hazards of trucking ore across I-70, design studies were conducted to evaluate the feasibility of crushing ore on the east side of I-70 and conveying it through a storm water box culvert to the west side of I-70 for processing and shipping. The design distance of the haul road was approximately 0.33 miles and included grade, width, geometric improvements, drainage ditch and culvert locations, and slope stability analysis for cut and fill locations. The road design was engineered to accommodate ore trucks that would travel to and from the mine. EarthFax evaluated the hydraulic capacity of the culvert without the conveyor and, in consultation with UDOT, determined that additional free board would be needed during peak runoff events. To meet this need, we designed a detention pond upstream from the box culvert to reduce the peak flow entering the culvert from both the 100-year, 24-hour storm and the 500-year, 24-hour storm. The detention pond was sized to ensure that the depth of storm water flow through the culvert box would leave a freeboard of at least 2.5 feet during the 100-year storm and 1.5 feet during the 500-year storm, thus providing enough room for the conveyor system without threatening the integrity of the highway or the functionality of the conveyor system. The detention pond was located in a former borrow pit created during construction of the freeway, providing a significant construction cost savings to the client. EarthFax also completed design work for deceleration and acceleration lanes onto I-70 according to Utah Department of Transportation standards, although this aspect of the project was not implemented.
RURAL FIRE STATION DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION. EarthFax assisted Escalante City in obtaining funding and then teamed with an architect to design a new fire station for the City. The old two-bay fire station was housed in a former high-school shop building that was undersized and otherwise inadequate to meet current standards and City requirements. EarthFax assisted the City by estimating project costs, supporting the City in obtaining funding from multiple agencies, surveying the area to determine site and utility conditions, and meeting with building vendors to select the structure that would best meet the needs of the City. We then designed a 6,080 ft2 four-bay building, complete with office, conference room, restrooms, mechanical room, and mezzanine storage area. We submitted the plans to the funding agencies for approval, made minor modifications as required, and then bid the project. EarthFax is currently providing construction inspection services on the project.
