Highline Mansion Hill Reservoir Relocation Project

T Bailey INC. was brought onto the Highline Mansion Hill Reservoir project as a general contractor to help Highline Water District relocate a large water reservoir.

The project required us to demolish the site’s two existing tanks. One was a small elevated tank, while the other was a 5 million gallon reservoir. The demo and relocation were driven by the need to transfer ⅓ of the property and part of the footprint of the original reservoir to Washington State Sound Transit for the Federal Way Link Light Rail Project.

While this project was forecasted to be a standard field-erected tank job, several notable events forced us to think outside the box in order to get the work done in a timely and cost-effective manner. These unforeseen challenges included the tragic Henry Pratt Company shooting and the COVID-19 pandemic.

Continue reading to learn how T BAILEY INC. overcame these challenges and succeeded in delivering a turn-key 4.5 million gallon reservoir.

Scope of the Highline Mansion Hill Reservoir Relocation Project

During the course of this project, T BAILEY INC. has delivered the following services:

  • Demolished 2 existing tanks (1 elevated tank, 1 reservoir)
  • Relocated Comcast, AT&T, T Mobile, emergency service, and SeaTac Airport utilities from the site
  • Excavated and graded the site
  • Laid a concrete foundation
  • Fabricated the new reservoir
  • Constructed and coated the reservoir
  • Installed water and storm lines
  • Installed asphalte driveways
  • Installed controls and security systems, including cameras
  • Installed site lighting

Due to the joining job being performed for Sound Transit, we had to carefully sequence the project within tight timeframes. The challenges brought about by the pandemic did hamper our original schedule, but we were able to adjust and meet our goals in a manner that both the District and Sound Transit were happy with.

Challenges We Overcame to Complete This Reservoir Project

This section of the case study is dedicated to analyzing the challenges we encountered during this project, as they demonstrate T BAILEY INC.’s ability to satisfy our customers, even in the face of adverse and impossible to predict situations.

Challenge #1: Valve Delays

Specialized valves played a key role in this project. The required valves were 16”-18” and we had to go through a submittal process before signing a purchase order with Henry Pratt for these large valves.

Unfortunately, before receiving our valves, the Henry Pratt Company was struck by a tragic shooting. Multiple employees were killed and injured and this, understandably, delayed valve production.

This delay affected the front and back end of our reservoir job, forcing us to adjust the sequencing of the project and place aspects of the project on hold while Henry Pratt recovered.

But by working closely with the Water District, we were able to secure additional time, helping us keep the project on track despite delays. By maintaining open communication and collaboration between T BAILEY INC. and the District, both parties made it through the valve delays without being monetarily affected.

Challenge #2: Valve Alterations

In addition to the nearly 9-month delay, we were met with another challenge once the valves started to arrive.

While we had ordered a combination of flanged x mechanical joint valves and flange x flange valves, we only received flange x MJ valves.

Thanks to our expertise in the field, we were able to brainstorm a solution, get approval from the District, and use alternate parts to change some of the valves into the needed flange x flange valves.

In the end, we resolved our flange challenges between January and February 2020, just in time for the pandemic.

Challenge #3: The COVID-19 Pandemic

The primary challenge posed by the pandemic was material delays. Suppliers were shut down due to quarantine, trucking across the country was impeded, and a large batch of special-order, high-end fencing was delayed by two months.

Of these, the fencing delay was the most problematic, as it was needed to secure the live reservoir site.

T BAILEY INC. successfully navigated this problem by getting approval from the city to install temporary fencing and on-site monitoring equipment to ensure the site stayed secure until our high-end fencing order arrived.

In addition to material delays, another challenge the pandemic brought was safety concerns.

If one crew member caught the virus, their entire team would have to quarantine for two weeks. So we put strict measures in place to mitigate the risk of Covid-19 affecting the health of our crews. This included:

  • Limiting site access to only necessary personnel
  • Contact tracing
  • Taking temperatures whenever someone clocked in
  • Wearing face coverings
  • Giving crews easy access to hand sanitizer
  • And putting self-isolation protocols in place for team members who had come into contact with the virus

Fortunately, these measures succeeded in protecting the reservoir relocation from additional delays, as not a single crew member working on the project caught the virus.

A Reservoir Fabrication Company You Can Count On

This case study demonstrates T BAILEY INC.’s ability to work with customers to solve project problems, mitigate delays, and protect our clients from monetary loss.

We understand that everyone’s on a budget, and so we do our best to control costs in the face of unforeseen problems (like a global pandemic) and come up with innovative solutions to physical challenges (like receiving the wrong valves).

To learn more about our water reservoir fabrication and general contractor capabilities, please contact T BAILEY INC. today.

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