Cumberland

Description:

Lake Gordon Dam and the adjacent water treatment plant were constructed in the early 1940’s by the City of Cumberland, Maryland to provide a water supply for the growing city. The intake tower was 80 feet tall and utilized screens within the tower to remove floating debris prior to entering the treatment plant. The screens would regularly get clogged which would require the plant to be shut down while the screens were manually removed via hoists, pressure washed, and then reinstalled. Maverick was contracted to install a new passive intake screen system with air burst system that was tied into the plant’s SCADA system.

To install the new intake screen/airburst system, a significant amount of work had to be performed underwater with divers. The first step was to core two each three-foot diameter holes through the intake towers three-foot thick walls. Once coring was complete, stainless steel wall thimbles were mounted on the interior/exterior face of each core hole followed by the installation of T-Screens on the exterior and 36” diameter knife gates on the interior. Underwater stainless piping was then run from the gate house service platform to the screens which involved additional wall cores, underwater support brackets, and precise fabrication. Additional underwater work included installation of knife gate stems and stem brackets, a new 70’ aluminum ladder, and demolition/sealing of the old intake ports/screens.

Upon completion of the underwater work, the topside work commenced which included installation of a new air burst system and upgrades to the gate house. The new air burst system required two new compressors to be installed within the compressor building and 300 linear feet of high-pressure stainless-steel piping to be routed from the compressor building, across the top of the dam, and into a 10’ tall volume tank. A control panel was installed within the gate house and a new aerial SCADA cable was installed between the gate house and the plant.

Gate house upgrades included new aluminum decking, structural concrete repairs to the working platform, and electrical upgrades. All work was completed while the plant remained operational through a lockout/tagout program and bypass pumping.

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