Pipeline Design Coordination and Procurement of Large Valves at a Reservoir

The design of reservoir piping and flow control valves for a 450 million gallon reservoir required coordination with multiple design teams and the procurement packages of large valves on the Integrated Pipeline (IPL) Project. The IPL Project is a water delivery system made possible through a partnership of the Tarrant Regional Water District and the City of Dallas. Together they provide raw water to over four million people in the Dallas Fort Worth area. Black and Veatch was responsible for design of IPL Sections 12, 13, and 14 which consists of approximately 28 miles of 108-inch water transmission pipeline and over 7,000 LF of yard piping at the Midlothian Balancing Reservoir (MBR) site including large fittings and several 108-inch gate valves and butterfly valves. At the interface between IPL sections 13 and 14 is the MBR site which is a three cell reservoir with an approximate total storage capacity of 450 million gallons. Each cell is fed by a 120/108-inch pipeline with 108-inch butterfly valves and gate valves used to control flow in and out of each cell. The MBR site was designed to either directly bypass the reservoir with a 108-inch bypass pipeline along the south side of the MBR site or to supply water to the reservoir by closing a 108-inch gate valve and sending the water to the three reservoir cells. The inlet side of Cells 1 and 2 were isolated with a 108-inch butterfly valve, and the inlet to Cell 3 was isolated with a 108-inch gate valve to allow for the future installation of a pigging receiving station. The outlet side of each reservoir was isolated with a 108-inch butterfly valve. This paper highlights the design requirements and the coordination involved for design and construction of the MBR site and the procurement of the 108-inch butterfly and gate valves. The MBR yard piping design included a 108-inch MBR bypass pipeline, 108-inch reservoir inlet and outlet header piping to all three reservoir cells, 108-inch inlet and outlet piping to each cell, and all special 108-inch wye fittings and 120-inch tees. Coordination was required with the reservoir design team on location of all reservoir piping and the connections to the 120-inch pipe to each reservoir cell. Coordination was also required with the IPL program management team on the design and procurement of the 108-inch gate and butterfly valves. These valves were pre-purchased in separate owner furnished equipment packages to aid in delivery schedule and to ensure that all butterfly valves were provide by a single manufacturer and that all gate valves were provided by a single manufacturer. All the valves were majority sourced, fabricated, and assembled in the United States of America.