New Water Treatment Facility in Godley, IL
The design/build team of W-T Civil Engineering, W-T Mechanical/Electrical Engineering, FGM Architects, and Corporate Construction Services were approached with an exciting challenge; the Village of Godley, IL is in need of a brand new water treatment facility. The population of Godley has relied heavily on their existing well water, but after a comprehensive study was completed in 2006 of the groundwater quality, a water purification process would need implementation.
The long awaited plan is now coming to life as the Village and design/build team has been given the opportunity to provide the citizens of Godley, IL, and other participating surrounding communities, with cleaner fresher water. The design of a water treatment facility provided the mechanical and plumbing engineers with new opportunities for incorporating “state of the art” water purification / filtration technologies and incorporated challenging structural systems to the structural design team.
The single-story 5,800 square-foot structure is proposed to be supported by a Concrete Masonry Unit (CMU) bearing / shear wall system, with a 4” face brick veneer, around the perimeter and steel moment frames along the large garage section doors. The proposed structural roof system consists of prefabricated cold-formed metal roof trusses with a plywood diaphragm. The facility also includes a precast concrete hollow-core plank mezzanine floor with concrete topping which will supplement the Village’s storage requirements and provide space for monitoring of the tanks and horizontal filters. Assuring this equipment runs properly is essential to the water treatment process.
One of the structural design challenges included increasing the building’s overall lateral stability, by limiting the horizontal drift induced by seismic / wind loads, due to the frequency and sizes of the garage door openings in the exterior masonry shear walls, by adding dual-purpose rigid steel moment frames around the openings.
Also, a “break out wall” was requested by the owner for a future door. This involved designing another rigid steel moment frame surrounding a non-structural masonry in-fill wall that can be removed (break out wall portion) without jeopardizing the structural integrity of the building and less interruption to the facility’s operations.
The design team was particularly excited about the seamless collaboration between the work flow of the Architects and Engineers’ Revit models. This Building Information Modeling (BIM) design tool allowed W-T’s structural engineers to view the Architects’ 3D models, helping them gain a clear understanding of their client’s vision and providing the necessary support. The structural elements were then designed using RISA Building System computer software which integrates directly with the Autodesk Revit model, resulting in a final design which meets the performance and economic expectations of the development team.
W-T Civil Engineering participates in “Group Workcamps”
Last month, Jeff Gutowsky of W-T participated with almost 400 adults and high school kids on a week-long “Group Workcamps” mission trip to Clearfield, PA providing repair work to over 50 single-family homes involving painting, yard work, installing handicap ramps and decks, and other miscellaneous clean-up and repairs.
W-T Civil Engineering is committed to serving communities by offering our time and resources to help others. We are always looking for new service projects and welcome any suggestions and ideas.
W-T Civil Engineering “Heads West”
W-T Civil Engineering continues our expansion into the western USA markets by recently acquiring professional civil and structural engineering licenses in Nebraska, Utah, New Mexico, Idaho, Oregon, California, and Hawaii; joining our established base in Arizona and Nevada, with pending applications in Colorado and Texas.
W-T Civil Engineering, LLC is utilizing the latest technology in design and drafting software to perform the engineering analysis and prepare the final drawings for construction. As a corporate member of the U.S. Green Building Council with individual LEED Accredited Professionals on staff to assist you with your facility needs anywhere / anytime.
Please contact us to see how we can help you.