{"id":2951,"date":"2024-12-30T15:56:37","date_gmt":"2024-12-30T15:56:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/prairieprod.vcnastaging.com\/?p=2951"},"modified":"2024-12-30T15:58:05","modified_gmt":"2024-12-30T15:58:05","slug":"digging-deep","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.prairie.com\/fr\/digging-deep\/","title":{"rendered":"Digging Deep"},"content":{"rendered":"

A quarter inch of rain doesn\u2019t seem like much, unless you live in parts of Indianapolis. Aging sewer systems in the densest part of the city can fill to capacity with only a quarter to a half inch of rainfall, flooding raw sewage into local rivers and streams. To address this problem and to comply with EPA mandates, Indianapolis has begun construction of the\u00a0Deep Rock Tunnel system<\/a>, a $1.6 billion, 5-tunnel network that will keep billions of gallons of waste water from contaminating Fall Creek, the White River and local streams.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\u200bTunnel contractor Shea-Kiewit (JV) has begun work on the first phase, a 54-million-gallon, 8-mile-long Deep Rock Tunnel Connector that will extend between the city\u2019s two wastewater treatment plants.<\/p>\n

Drawing on its long experience with similar jobs, Prairie has partnered with Shea-Kiewit, its concrete contractor Platt Construction, and Bencor, the drilling contractor, to deliver the unique mixes needed for this multi-year, $180 million project, including high-strength concrete for the entry shafts and tunnel lining and shotcrete coating for tunnel entrances in the bedrock.<\/p>\n

Entry underway<\/h2>\n

Bencor is currently completing a 285-ft deep entrance shaft at the Southport Advanced Wastewater Treatment plant where the tunnel will start. The 44-ft. circumference shaft is reinforced with concrete slurry walls for the first 100 feet to stabilize the softer overburden and connect to the bedrock.<\/p>\n

Shotcrete for safety<\/h2>\n

Below the slurry walls, shotcrete is used to stabilize the bedrock sections of the tunnel shafts, an additional 185 feet down. The shotcrete will keep the rock in place, preventing cave-ins and providing crew safety.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is the first time shotcrete with steel fibers has been used in Indianapolis,\u201d reports Kerry Webb, Prairie Indiana Quality Control Manager. The mix is meeting all its specs. \u201cTests show that we are reaching the correct strengths and uniformity and it\u2019s ready for production.\u201d<\/p>\n

Shotcrete crews are using a robotic nozzle arm to precisely layer thin coats of steel fiber reinforced, 6,000 psi concrete directly onto the rock surface of the shaft, eventually reaching 4\u201d thick.<\/p>\n

Partnership is key\u200b\u200b<\/h2>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Prairie Sales Manager\u00a0Todd Schaller<\/strong>\u00a0has worked with JF Shea for more than 20 years in the Milwaukee area on various tunneling projects. \u201cWe got involved early in the Indianapolis project because of our long term relationship,\u201d Schaller says. Shea knows that we can provide the quality, the capacity and the flexibility to meet their needs over a long term project, he adds. \u201cPrairie’s QC team has been on site for every pour,\u201d says\u00a0Mike Stolkin<\/strong>, project engineer for JF Shea. \u201cWe are impressed with their dedication.\u201d<\/p>\n

Long term construction\u200b<\/h2>\n

\"\"The tunnel boring machine will be craned into the shaft in pieces and assembled below the surface. Mining of the 18-ft, diameter tunnel is expected to begin in late August. Tunnel lining will start in early 2013 and is anticipated to move at a rate of 100 feet per day on a 24-hour, five days per week schedule. Crews will pump high slump, high-early strength concrete up to 1 mile depending on the construction requirements. The first phase is scheduled to wrap up by 2017 with a final completion date of 2025 for all 5 tunnels.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A quarter inch of rain doesn\u2019t seem like much, unless you live in parts of Indianapolis. Aging sewer systems in the densest part of the city can fill to capacity with only a quarter to a half inch of rainfall, flooding raw sewage into local rivers and streams. To address this problem and to comply […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2952,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2951","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.prairie.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2951","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.prairie.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.prairie.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.prairie.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.prairie.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2951"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.prairie.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2951\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.prairie.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2952"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.prairie.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2951"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.prairie.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2951"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.prairie.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2951"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}