By: Pacific Corrugated Pipe Company
Working closely with a dealer client in Washington state, Pacific Corrugated Pipe became aware of a project originally specifying the use of concrete chambers as the stormwater control solution for a condominium development project in Bellingham, WA. Recognizing that corrugated steel pipe systems frequently represent a more cost-effective solution that concrete structures, a plan to pursue developing an approved alternative was created.
Pacific Corrugated Pipe Company has been focused on value-engineering concrete vault solution projects, since we have found we could pass along significant savings based on past conversions. So, we worked with our distributor and an independent engineering firm to value-engineer the original plans to an alternative corrugated metal pipe solution. The engineer reviewed our drafted solution to confirm that we met or exceeded the hydraulic capacity requirements of the original design.
Once the new solution had been reviewed, our distributor worked with the owners to present all the specifics of the new solution and received preliminary approval to quote on this proposed design. So, with this approval received, we reviewed the site area to confirm our new solution would work in the space provided. The final step was to confirm the final design, quote the project, review the savings and outline the easier installation process with the project owner. Ultimately, this new design brought a “significant” savings versus the original concrete vault design. Our dealer shared some of these savings with the owners and reviewed the ease of installation to ultimately win the project.
Our solution called for the use of approximately 1,000 feet of 84″ 16 gage Aluminized 5 X 1 CMP. This 1,000 feet of CMP was split into four separate barrel runs that utilized double manifold tees to join the barrels. Additionally, 36″ risers were fabricated with ladders to allow for access into each of the separate runs of pipe. The pipe was reinforced with angle iron and steel bulkheads to finish off the solution. Ultimately, the materials were delivered on time and the project was finished sooner due to the shorter amount of time to install versus the original solution.
The upfront time and efforts of all involved ultimately drove a win, win, win for everyone.