ENR Midwest Best Projects 2023
East Bottoms Award of Merit Safety
Photo courtesy of Garney Cos.
East Bottoms Pump Station
Kansas City, Mo.
Award of Merit
Submitted by: Garney Cos.
Owner: City of Kansas City
Design Firm: Burns & McDonnell
General Contractor: Garney Cos.
Civil/Structural Engineer: Taliaferro & Browne Inc.
Architect: Wellner Architects Inc.
To complete the major demolition and rehabilitation of this 100-year-old pump station, the project team replaced 36-in. and 42-in. discharge piping with a new loop piping arrangement, which included removing and replacing the concrete structure with new auger cast piles, slabs, walls and decking around this discharge piping. Full pump station operations were maintained throughout construction, which was completed below budget in March 2023.
Much of the piping was a safety risk during demolition, given its age. A portion of the project also had to be completed quickly during the winter months to ensure no interruptions to the distribution network.
Across 62,679 work hours, the project team had no recordables or lost-time incidents. All employees on this project were required to participate with a safety task analysis card and contribute daily or any time tasks changed during the shift. Garney also provided a confined space refresher training course for all subcontractors working on this project.
To tackle a challenging demolition on the existing vault, complicated by its age and decay of the existing concrete ceiling, the team developed a demolition plan. This took into account the potential for falling concrete, the capacity of the crane and the ability to safely cut concrete without it falling onto the in-service piping. Garney incorporated shoring and worked with the concrete cutting subcontractors to develop a network of tie-offs that would protect them during cutting.
