The challenge

A 75 million-gallon-per-day bypass is a major pumping operation on its own. This project added a structural constraint that ruled out conventional setups: the effluent chamber could not bear the load of the pumping equipment. With vertical turbine pump units weighing 52,000 pounds each, there was no version of this job where equipment sat on the structure itself.

The bypass also had to run continuously for roughly 120 days so the plant could take its injection well building offline and rehab the interior, including concrete and epoxy work. Every gallon that normally moved through that building needed to be captured, redirected, and delivered downstream without interruption. A bypass at a working treatment plant leaves no room for downtime or failure.

The response

A platform built from the ground up

Rather than force a standard configuration onto the site, Ironclad’s team engineered a purpose-built platform constructed from the ground up. The platform elevated the entire pumping system several feet above the effluent chamber while never touching the structure at any point. Every pound of equipment weight was carried by the platform, not the plant. Engineered scaffolding and steel beams formed the load-bearing frame, all delivered under a PE-stamped engineering package.

Vertical turbines over submersibles

The pumping design was equally deliberate. Vertical turbine pumps, an uncommon choice for bypass work, gave the project the capacity and configuration the site demanded. The 38-foot units were lowered into position over the platform. Ironclad is the only bypass provider in the country running vertical turbines at this scale, which is why the general contractor selected the engineered turbine setup over a competing bid that would have dropped electric submersibles into the pit. The competing solution came in at a lower price. The contractor paid the premium for the better-engineered answer.

Flow was captured from the crucifix and discharged through dual 30-inch lines, which dropped into a 90-inch outfall.

“This is a unique setup going with vertical turbine pumps,” said [Zachary Groner] of Ironclad. “Each of these units can carry up to 40 to 50,000 pounds each, so nothing could rest on the structure of the effluent chamber itself.”

“There’s no one else in the country that has these vertical turbines,” said [Norm] of Ironclad. “That’s why big jobs like this come to us, even at a higher price. We come in with an engineered, unique solution.”

Automation and 24/7 pump watch

The system ran on full automation, with VFDs and PLCs controlling the operation end to end. On top of the automated controls, Ironclad kept a technician on site around the clock on pump watch. At a plant moving 75 MGD, monitoring is not a formality. It is how a bypass stays a non-event.

A total team effort

Projects like this are won in coordination. Operations, logistics, engineering, and field labor all had to move as one unit to design the platform, mobilize equipment of this size, and bring the system online. Behind the field execution was a relationship the sales team had been building with the general contractor for roughly three years before the first piece of equipment mobilized.

“This project has been a total team effort all the way, from the operations to logistics to the engineering to the manual labor,” said [Dave Groner] of Ironclad. “You have professionalism, and you have the expertise and the knowledge behind it.”

The outcome

The bypass ran for the full 120-day rehab window and performed as engineered, and the customer could not have been happier with the outcome. The general contractor has since brought Ironclad in on additional bypass work, with more projects already on the books. Just as important, the job proved a point about how Ironclad approaches this work.

“It’s been a really great job. It shows what we can do,” said Groner. “There’s more than just bypass pumping. You gotta come up with a better solution sometimes, and there always is a better mousetrap. You just gotta take the initiative.”

Facing a bypass that standard setups can’t handle?

Some projects need more than equipment dropped at the gate. They need an engineered answer. Ironclad brings the fleet, the field expertise, and the initiative to build the right solution for constraints other providers walk away from. Contact Ironclad today to talk through your project.