Preventing Costly Construction Delays: Leonard Water Treatment Plant and 60-mile Pipeline

Project Background

As part of North Texas Municipal Water District’s commitment to meeting steadily increasing regional water needs, Bois d’Arc Lake was constructed as a surface water reservoir to collect rainfall and flows from Bois d’Arc Creek. This required construction of the 70- MGD Leonard Water Treatment Plant plus 60 miles of 84 to 94-inch diameter pipeline to transport water from the lake so growing communities across North Texas would have a new source of drinking water treated with the latest ozone and biological filtration technology.  

 Working with our clients, Black & Veatch, CP&Y, Jacobs, and AECOM, HVJ Associates® provided geotechnical design recommendations for Leonard Water Treatment Plant and approximately 30 miles of treated/untreated pipeline. 

The Problem

Most of the pipeline runs through or along parcels of privately owned land, so proper notification to each landowner was crucial before accessing the project site.  The following challenges would need to be addressed during this project:  

Use of All Terrain Vehicles (ATV) was essential for accessing certain locations and restoring the site conditions after completion of field work. 

Need to work alongside the survey crew to identify the pipeline easement and coordinate with individual landowners as needed. 

Identifying the subsurface soil and rock variability along alignments crossing multiple geologic formations so the contractor could select appropriate equipment to install the pipeline at different points along the alignment in both open cut sections and in the trenchless crossings located near streams, railroads, and roadways.

Our Solution

Working with our partners, HVJ drilled a total of 209 borings for the raw water pipeline, greenfield treatment plant facility and the greenfield treated water pipeline to support recommendations for open-cut pipeline, trenchless pipeline crossings, the treatment facility structures and roadways, and the treatment plant storage lagoons. Subsurface data collected from the borings was used to identify the soil and rock in-situ and laboratory properties to be used in geotechnical recommendations. HVJ also provided bearing capacity and modulus of soil reaction from the borings that were provided at the invert depths of the pipeline.

HVJ delivered Geotechnical Data and Design reports for the pipeline and treatment facility, which included detailed Geology description and subsurface site conditions. HVJ translated this into critical guidance for the contractors.

The Results

HVJ's guidance enabled contractors to avoid last-minute surprises and prevent costly construction delays. Additionally, because our team was local and familiar with the treatment plant site conditions from our data report, we were able to quickly respond in person on behalf of our client for field questions during construction.

Preventing Costly Construction Delays: Leonard Water Treatment Plant and 60-mile Pipeline

Project Background

Practice: Geotechnical Engineering

Sector: Water

Location: Leonard, TX

Services: Pipeline Design, Foundation Design

The Problem

The Goal

Our Solution

The Results

HVJ Associates, Inc.

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