| Located six miles west of Ft. Lauderdale, the city of Sunrise, Florida, was just another small community not long ago. Now its population is 80,000, and the Sunrise Utilities Department is one of the fastest-growing in South Florida.
The Sunrise Utilities Department’s service area covers more than 60 square miles. In addition to the Sunrise city limits, it includes sections of unincorporated Broward County, the newly incorporated city of Weston, and portions of the town of Davie. The department serves 170,000 customers and is adding 1,200 to 1,500 accounts per year. Sunrise is in the middle of a construction flurry in which planners are striving to keep the city’s personality unique. New office buildings, a civic center/recreational complex, a new community center, and more tennis courts and city parks are only a few of the projects under way or recently completed. Of equal importance are expansion and improvements under way at the Sunrise Utilities Department’s Sawgrass and Springtree Utility facilities. This work accounts for $79 million of a $150 million capital improvement program included in a 5-year plan slated for completion in 2001. At build-out, the population to be served is projected to be 220,000 — 29 percent more than now. The added capacity will meet the department’s needs through 2010. The largest of the department’s current projects is a $27 million job at the Sawgrass Utility Facility, originally built in 1974. This job entails construction of a 12-MGD membrane softening facility which will provide potable water for the new Broward County Arena, home of the National Hockey League’s Florida Panthers. Additional construction at the Sawgrass Utility Facility consists of a $23-million, 5-MGD expansion of the current treatment system that will bring total capacity to 18.75 MGD. Completion is scheduled for February 2000. The project also includes a 29-MGD modification and expansion of the existing biosolids facility through the addition of a biosolids thickening, stabilization, and dewatering system. This work includes construction of a headworks structure, aeration basins, a blower building, secondary clarifiers, a chlorine contact basin, a sodium hypochlorite disinfection system, a dissolved air flotation unit, an autothermal thermophilic aerobic digestion system, and a dewatering building for belt filter presses. For work at the Sawgrass facilities, about 10,000 feet of 4"-48"AMERICAN flanged, Fastite ® , and Flex-Ring ® pipe were installed along with approximately 175 tons of flanged, mechanical joint and Flex-Ring ® fittings. "With regard to AMERICAN, the biggest challenge was and is getting material properly detailed and delivered in support of the aggressive construction schedule," said Brian MacClugage, project manager on the wastewater facility’s work for The Poole and Kent Company of Miami. "AMERICAN provides quality material in accordance with their quoted delivery schedule – often ahead of their delivery schedule." Much of the work Poole & Kent is doing is in an existing facility where many unforeseen underground conditions are encountered. "The Fastite ® piping permits us to make the required field adjustments to accommodate the existing facilities at a minimum of extra cost and time," MacClugage said. "Deflection of the Fastite ® joints is also very beneficial." Improvements under way at the Springtree Utility Facility consist of a new 12-MGD lime softening water facility along with various improvements to the existing plant. The $14-million project is due for completion in January of next year. Also, construction at the Springtree Facility will replace the facility’s existing seven wastewater treatment package plants with concrete structures that house biosolids thickening facilities. Completion of this $15-million, 9-MGD job is slated for completion in November 1999. The Springtree Water Treatment Plant was built in 1972; the Springtree Wastewater Plant was begun in 1969. |
Palm trees and magnificent sunsets: such is the scenery in Sunrise, Florida. The Sunrise Utilities Department currently serves 170,000 customers; that number is expected to reach 220,000 in three years. [PHOTO BY SHERI CHADWICK, CITY OF SUNRISE] |
Because much of the work on this project involves modification and expansion of an existing facility, encountering unknown conditions is not uncommon. AMERICAN piping allows for field adjustments to accommodate the existing facilities at a minimum of extra time and cost. [PHOTO COURTESY OF SUNRISE UTILITIES DEPARTMENT] |
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A work crew applies the finishing touches to part of an AMERICAN Ductile Iron line entering an aeration basin that is part of the biosolids facility at the Sawgrass Wastewater Plant. [PHOTO COURTESY OF SUNRISE UTILITIES DEPARTMENT] |
| Owner: | Sunrise Utilities Department |
| Project: | Sawgrass Water and Wastewater Expansion/Construction |
| Engineers: | Montgomery Watson Americas, Inc., Plantation, Florida; Camp Dresser & McKee, Ft. Lauderdale, Florida |
| Contractor: | The Poole & Kent Company, Miami, Florida |
| Material: | Approximately 10,000 feet of 4"-48" flanged, Fastite ® and Flex-Ring ® pipe; approximately 175 tons of flanged, mechanical joint and FlexRing ® fittings |
| Sales Engineer: | Marie Wright |
| Customer Service Representative: | Cathy Whitten |
| Drafters: | Chris Dendy, Cindy Mashburn, and Dennis Wilson |
© 1998 American Cast Iron Pipe Co.
