Case Studies
NAS Whidbey Island – AFFF Containment System
Town:
State:
Product:
Application:
Oak Harbor
WA
AFFF Wastewater Containment System
Wastewater
Job Type:
Sub Type
Engineer:
Contractor:
Military
Fire Suppression Wastewater
AECOM
RQ CONSTRUCTION
Project Information:
The Naval Air Station Whidbey Island (NASWI), located 90 miles north of Seattle, is the largest naval aviation installation in the Pacific Northwest. It is also one of the four naval installations forming the Navy Region Northwest. The Air Station was commissioned in 1942 as a base for seaplane patrol operations, rocket firing training, torpedo overhaul, and both recruit and petty officer training. Currently, the base is a home to all US Navy electronic attack squadrons operating the EA-6B Prowler and EA-18G Growler.
The Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC) released a Request for Proposal for a firm fixed price, design-build (DB) stand-alone contract for the construction of P-256 EA-18G Maintenance Hangar. The general scope of the requirement was for the DB construction of 56,000 SF maintenance hangar in support of the EA-18G Growler aircraft. The facility will provide high-bay space for aircraft maintenance, maintenance shops, and open bay warehouse for aircraft equipment, and administrative spaces. The hangar facility construction will
include a steel framing system, concrete exterior walls with metal cladding, concrete/steel composite deck, and metal roof. This project includes Aqueous Film Forming Foam (AFFF) fire suppression system with collection trenches, and storage tanks for containment of the AFFF wastewater.
RQ Construction, a privately held design-build firm located in Carlsbad, California, was awarded the contract including the installation of a AFFF system. With the base's island location, high-water table and corrosive coastal atmosphere were part of the design challenge. The design team, who include AECOM, reached out to ParkUSA to develop a AFFF wastewater system to meet these conditions.
The FoamTrooper UBD provides an ideal solution. The FoamTrooper enables treatment, diversion, storage, and management of fire foam suppression wastewater system, all integrated into a single unit. The buried UBD is designed as a shallow 7-foot unit to avoid the water table of the island. Two 14,500-gallon above-ground wastewater storage tanks on skids allow for relocation if needed and are treated with an epoxy coating for protection from the corrosive coastal atmosphere. The UBD and wastewater tanks were built to fit on standard flatbed trailers for lower freight costs.
How it works:
The floor drain system in the area protected by fire suppression system features a sloped floor that drains or trench drain. All fluids that hit the hanger floor, drain into the trench drain. Piping connects the trench drain to the Foam Trooper UBD consists of a diverter valve system, oil water separator, and lift station. The diverter valve assembly has one incoming pipe and two exiting pipes; one directed to the sanitary sewer (normal condition), and another pipe directed to the containment tank (alarm condition). The diverter valve system includes an automatic control system that will allow the central fire alarm system to activate the diverter valve. The control system will provide valve position status and automatic and manual control.
Upon the activation of the fire suppression system, a signal is sent to the AFFF management panel. The diverter valve changes position and diverts wastewater flow from the oil-water separator to the pump station compartment. The pump system transfers the wastewater to the above ground containment tanks where all the fluids are safely detained.
The AFFF management system also monitors water levels to prevent tank overfilling. The containment tanks safely store PFOS / PFAS contaminated wastewater until proper disposal according to prevailing environmental regulations.
Spaceport Houston Project
Town:
State:
Products:
Houston
TX
ParkUSA Combination Water Meter Assembly
Backflow Preventer
Application:
Job Type:
Contractor:
Fire Protection
Aerospace & Aviation
Texas Sterling- Banicki
Project Information:
Phase 1 of the Houston Spaceport at Ellington Airport broke ground on June 28, 2019 and is to be complete in the Summer of 2021. It will be the world’s first urban commercial spaceport which offers extraordinary business opportunities for aviation and aerospace companies regardless of size. This project will provide the groundwork to support and accelerate prominent aerospace engineering practices.
Phase 1 is the beginning of a site where cutting-edge innovations needed to lead commercial space travel and aviation to the next level will be developed. 153 out of 440 acres will consist of 53,000 sq ft of lab and office space along with streets, water, wastewater, electrical power and distribution, and communications.
ParkUSA’s Role:
With a series of many different buildings, fire protection and domestic water supply infrastructure are priorities for the project.
ParkUSA was able to fill this need by providing Houston Spaceport with our water meter system designed to measure the volume of water usage for commercial and industrial applications. Products that we provided are listed below:
- 10” Combination Water Meter Assembly
- 10” Reduced Pressure BackFlow Preventer
Utility companies charge customers for water usage, which is recorded by water meters. The Combination Water Meter Assembly incorporates both a positive displacement meter and a turbine meter, merging two water lines into one. This combination can help reduce construction and maintenance costs while behaving as a more applicable meter for some sites. For areas that require multiple fire hydrants, it is practical to have one water line connecting all the hydrants and buildings, to provide both fire and domestic services respectively. Combination Water Assemblies are designed for high metering accuracy where extremely large variations in flow are anticipated. Because it is a fire and domestic meter it processes potable water for drinking and general use and fire protection. This project required a 10” meter because the project will have more than one fire hydrant and need a higher flow rate.
Clean water is valuable for personal, recreational, and business activities. Codes and jurisdictions required for applications where there is a possibility of contamination of the public water supply, which is commonly referred to as cross-contamination. Potential cross-contamination hazards are found in potable, fire-protection, irrigation, and industrial water lines. Reduced Pressure Assemblies are used to protect against these toxic fluids in water services in order to provide safe drinking water. Without these backflow preventers, cross-contamination would become a large safety issue for domestic and fire usage of the water.
LaGuardia Airport – Concourse A
Town:
State:
Product:
Application:
Queens
NY
Hatchway Assembly
Stormwater
Job Type:
Subtype:
Contractor:
Engineer:
Municipal
Airport
The PAR Group
HOK Engineering
Project Information:
The comprehensive $8 billion redevelopment of LaGuardia Airport (LGA) – comprises the construction of an entirely new airport on top of an existing one, all while remaining fully operational. This project follows the vision outlined by Governor Andrew M. Cuomo in 2015 to create a unified, 21st century terminal system with improved transportation access, 8 miles of roadway including 24 new bridges, additional airside taxiways and world-class passenger amenities. The overall $8 billion investment is 80% privately financed and LEED Silver certified.
In 2018, ParkUSA was contacted to engineer hatchway lid assemblies for sanitary sewer pump lift stations located in the basement of LaGuardia Airport, Concourse B. These lids were designed to retain up to ten feet of hydrostatic pressure head (4.33 psig) and prevent flooding caused by excessive stormwater drainage that back flowed into the lift stations.
In 2019, ParkUSA was contacted to complete a similar project for the LaGuardia expansion in Concourse A. However, for this project the hatchway lid assemblies were required to retain up to 15 feet of hydrostatic pressure head (6.5 psig).
To accomplish this, ParkUSA relied upon its in-house engineering and fabrication capabilities to manufacture four hatchway lid assemblies. These assemblies functioned with a 72” x 72” ID lift station, consisting of a square structure that accommodated the following:
- (1) 30” x 40” hatchway
- (4) 4” pipe connections for pump discharges and venting; and
- (2) 2” threaded electrical connections.
Each assembly was hot dipped galvanized for increased performance and durability and designed to be watertight up to fifteen feet of hydrostatic pressure head, or 6.50 psig. Upon completion of the fabrication process, the hatchway assemblies were factory performance tested to ensure all project requirements were achieved.
BLM – Terminal Site
Town:
State:
Product:
Application:
Freeport
TX
Fire Water Inlet Structure & Wet Wells
Utility / Fire Water
Job Type:
Subtype:
Engineer:
Industrial
Oil & Gas
TKE Engineering
Boardwalk Louisiana Midstream, LLC (“BLM”) provides transportation and storage services for olefins and natural gas liquids and provides brine supply services for producers and consumers of petrochemicals throughout the Gulf Coast. BLM’s new butane injection storage terminal in Freeport, Texas allows BLM to continue to expand its midstream operations across the Texas Gulf Coast. ParkUSA was contacted to assist in the design and development of a fire water inlet structure that supplies water to the site’s fire water pump house.
To accomplish this, ParkUSA’s engineering team collaborated with the project engineer to design the appropriate solution. Because this project involved a fire water pump, ParkUSA utilized the National Fire Protection Association (“NFPA”) 20 Standard as a basis for design. To conform with NFPA 20, ParkUSA followed the requirements set forth in section 4.14.8, as highlighted below:
- 4.14.8.1 Where the water supply is obtained from an open source such as a pond or wet pit, the passage of materials that might clog the pump shall be obstructed.
- 4.14.8.2 Double Intake Screens shall be provided at the suction intake.
- 4.14.8.3 Screens shall be removable, or an in-situ cleaning shall be provided.
- 4.14.8.6 Mesh screens shall be brass, copper, Monel, stainless steel, or other equivalent corrosion-resistant metallic material wire screen of 0.50 inches (12.7 mm) maximum mesh and No. 10 B&S gauge.
- 4.14.8.7 Where flat panel mesh screens are used, the wire shall be secured to a metal frame sliding vertically at the entrance of the intake.
- 4.14.8.11 Screens shall have at least 62.5% percent open area.
Once the design was finalized, ParkUSA fabricated the structure in-house at its precast concrete and steel fabrication facilities. ParkUSA’s fire water inlet structure contained the following components:
- 8’ x 8’ x 17’ precast Symons formed concrete structure;
- (1) galvanized bar grating to capture bulk floatables;
- (2) removable stainless-steel mesh screens to capture floatables;
- (2) cast iron, slide gate valves to regulate water flow; and
- Cast in dowel bars to assist in anchoring the structure.
In addition, ParkUSA manufactured two wet wells consisting of an 8’ x 8’ x 20’ precast concrete vault, reinforced with rebar, and an 8” basin extended lip. These wet wells were to house the pumps used for the fire water pump house.
Hotel Van Zandt
Town:
State:
Job Type:
Subtype:
Application:
Austin
TX
Hotels & Motels
Hotels
Wastewater
Contractor:
Products:
Big Red Dog
- Grease Interceptor
- Lint Interceptor
- Sand-Oil Interceptor
Project Information:
The Hotel Van Zandt; includes 367,676-sf, 16-story, 319-key hotel with 4 levels of underground parking. Amenities include a three-meal restaurant, 6,800-sf pool deck and indoor/outdoor bar, 12,000-sf of meeting space—including 1,300-sf fitness facility and lobby walk-up café. The Van Zantt is a boutique hotel and is conveniently located minutes away from the convention center, the Warehouse District and other popular downtown Austin destinations.
Situated in the newly minted Waterfront District of downtown Austin, the project is directly adjacent to and share amenities with The Shore, a Trammell Crow Company condominium project.
AThe Van Zandt attracts both business and leisure travelers given its location. It is two blocks southeast of the Austin Convention Center, one block east of Town Lake, 1.8 miles from the Texas Capitol Building, and 1.6 miles from the University of Texas at Austin.
Product Information:
The hotel utilizes a 6,000 gallon grease interceptor. The ParkUSA GreaseTrooper Model GTS-6000 was chosen for it durability and performance. The unit is freestanding in the lower parking level with service manholes located in an outdoor service area behind the hotel. The configuration allows for convenient pumping while controlling odors. The interceptor is manufactured of 304 stainless steel and will provide many years of service. A smaller kitchen area uses a compact MGT-400 Grease Interceptor.
The ParkUSA Lint Trooper Model LTS-500 is used for the commercial laundry. This unit is also freestanding and allows for easy access and maintenance.
For the parking garage, the city sewer is protected from oil and fuel by the ParkUSA CMP-200 Sand-Oil Interceptor, in a freestanding configuration.
