Delcora Pump Station 6
Chester, Pa.
Award of Merit 

Owner: Delaware County Regional Water Authority (DELCORA)
General Contractor: Allan Myers
Lead Design Firm: Gannett Fleming
Subcontractors: Optimum Controls; Philips Brothers Electric; EFCO (Concrete)

Racing the clock to comply with a consent decree while avoiding interference with a large wastewater treatment plant’s critical operations, the team completed this $9.3-million pumping station in just 18 months, nearly four months ahead of schedule, and under budget. Advanced modeling technology for excavation, concrete, piping and equipment enabled the team to craft an intricate, cost-effective construction phasing sequence for the constrained site and navigate a web of functional and abandoned utility lines, it says.  

Collaboration with the geotechnical engineer and form designer helped identify the most efficient process to excavate and construct the pump station, with wall pours performed in stages to minimize the need for formwork elements. During the deep pump station excavation, subsurface conditions were found to be better than stated in the design report. The team says this discovery and analysis, in collaboration with the designer of record and geotechnical engineer, led to an alternative method of increasing rebar and slab thickness to compensate for differential settlement. That method saved time and cost and ultimately eliminated half of the piles. Capitalizing on a concurrent project to upgrade plant-wide electrical switchgear, the team sequenced the integration of new pump station equipment so that power was available while significant subsurface work was underway. That allowed installation of core electrical equipment to get underway ahead of schedule.

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