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Bates Engineering has upgraded its computational fluid dynamics (CFD) program Cfdesign, written by Blue Ridge Numerics, to Version 10 and is using the software on a new HP 9400 work station computer with two liquid-cooled AMD processors working in parallel to decrease processing time. CFD software permits the analysis of 3-D flow circulation, mixing, retention and disinfect ion contact time in water storage tanks and other fluid retaining or transmission structures.

The Denver Water Department's 120,000-sq-ft. floor slab pour on December 2, 2000 has received a lot of attention due to its great size. Articles in F.W. Dodge's Colorado Construction magazine, January 2001 issue, and American Water Works Association Main Stream, January 2001, have both featured this event.

How many concrete trucks does it take to continuously deliver and pour 3,300 yd. (3,000 m3) of concrete into a hole in the ground about the size of a football stadium? The question was not a trivial matter when Denver Water began laying plans to build a 25-mil-gal (95 × 103m3) underground water reservoir for its Foothills Water Treatment Plant west of Denver. The storage tank—the biggest circular post-tensioned concrete water storage tank west of the Mississippi River—posed challenges that required 31/2 months of preparations.

Article courtesy F.W. Dodge Colorado Construction
A Publication of The McGraw-Hill Companies

As concrete events go, this was among the biggest. On December 2, 400 people working as well-organized team completed one of the largest single-day pours in the history of Colorado construction. The 120,000-sq-ft. slab at Denver Water Department's Fourteen Reservoir #3, located a few miles south of Chatfield Reservoir, required 3,240 cu. yds. of concrete poured and finished in a 14-hour period.

According to Steve Thanner, construction manager for the water and wastewater division of Centric-Jones Constructors, the general contractor on the project, the massive pour was completed "without a hitch." Thanner credits everyone involved, especially the planning of Mike Leister at the Denver Water Dept. and the engineers, Bob Bates of Bates Engineering and Diana Horner of Plains Engineering.

The pour required 65 trucks and 128 people from Aggregate Industries, the concrete provider, whose drivers logged more than 10,500 miles on the project. Brundage Bone handled the pumping, and more than 100 people from Laursso Concrete did the finish work. The slab is the base of a 25-million-gal. tank that will eventually replace treated water storage the water department lost due to upgrades at two other plants. The tank should be complete in late 2001.

Cruisin' the res

It’s a warm, bright day, as a dozen young skateboarders hone their skills on grinding boards, quarter pipes, and other oddly named contraptions. A few wear the skateboarders’ uniform: baggy shorts and tee shirts. The youngest wears a brightly colored helmet. The park is small and fairly crowded. Skateboarders wait in line for their turn to take to the air. In-line skaters thread their way carefully between ramps and zooming skateboards. Occasionally a young girl races alongside a friend as he barrels toward a ramp.

Constance Hardesty Contributing Editor Photos by Keith Wynkoop

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