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Salt Lake City Airport Construction Project – Keeping The Water Clean

Background

Beginning in 2019, Ironclad Environmental Solutions has been integral to ground and storm water management for a number of large, highly complex projects at Salt Lake City International Airport. To begin with, existing jet fuel lines and underground storage tanks were compromised, leaking petroleum contaminants and requiring dewatering for any excavations of more than three feet.

At the same time, the airport is undergoing the construction of three new terminals, building a rail transportation tunnel, and installing underground utilities, all of which also require dewatering due to ground and storm water.

For the tunnel project, dewatering was required on excavations under three feet in depth, and the transportation system required a depth of 80 feet at a length of 500 yards. To accomplish these massive projects and meet specific requirements, Ironclad assisted with the installation of well casings, piping, pumping, and filtration of all water generated.

Challenges

With any large-scale project there are bound to be bumps along the way, but for the Salt Lake City team, water treatment was one of the biggest challenges they’ve faced. As one of the largest construction projects in the state of Utah, the airport had exceedingly high standards that required daily on-demand service at a moment’s notice.

The average flow rate of ground water recharge measured 2,000 to 3,000 gallons per minute and was then pumped through our 18,000-gallon open-top weir tank. Any water negatively impacted by petroleum byproducts was pumped through activated carbon vessels, then into another Ironclad open-top tank to test for: total dissolved solids, diesel- and gasoline-ranged organic hydrocarbons, pH levels, VOCs, and TCLP prior to discharge into storm drain systems.

Pumping and treating water contaminated with raw pure fuel was a particularly daunting task. During excavations there could be up to two feet of standing jet fuel on top of the ground water that needed to be captured prior to pumping. And water that was already pumped into the tanks needed to be skimmed before filtration.

In addition to compromised fuel lines and surrounding petroleum contamination, the lines themselves were encased with an outer lining of friable asbestos, creating yet another environmental hurdle to overcome. And of course, in the midst of these challenges the airport had to remain operational at all times, requiring a secondary, temporary fuel system in order to fuel planes throughout construction.

The Right Products and Partnerships for the Right Results

A complex project of this scope requires a blend of the right products and solutions with key partnerships. To be successful, we deployed the following Ironclad solutions:

We provided our heavy-duty open- and closed-top tanks to assist with the decommissioning of the old terminals and tarmacs and provide reliable storage for crushed cement from existing terminals, to then be refurbished as backfill and temporary road base.

Success

Our solutions and partnerships have proved successful and kept all airport projects running smoothly, overcoming any challenges we’ve faced. Thus far we’ve beaten out all competitors and saved the customer millions of dollars by providing an on-site water treatment system. Additionally, the number of gallons pumped through the system is in the millions, and we haven’t failed any analytical testing for discharge of impacted water.

Project Profile

  • Ironclad Environmental Solutions Use: Ground and storm water management, including containment, separation of suspended solids, dewatering, and filtration; Tanks and berms used to contain and store wastewater generated by fire remediation and cleanup process

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Learn More About Ironclad Environmental Solutions

If you’d like to learn more about our storage solutions or have questions about how we can help make your project a success, let us know. Ironclad Environmental is ready to work with your team to put in place the right products and solutions.

Contact us today and speak to our experts to determine which size and features are right for your immediate needs.

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