The Miramar Clearwell Improvements project is a $120 million capital improvement project for the City of San Diego that essentially replaces the original 1959 Miramar Water Treatment Plant facility, including replacing two aging, finished water storage reservoirs with two new, seismic-resistant-designed, reinforced concrete, 29.5 million gallon (MG) each clearwells; a dual-train chlorine contact chamber; a 215 million gallons per day (MGD) low-lift pump station using four 37,000 gallons per minute axial lineshaft pumps; a new maintenance facility; an electrical building; guard house; and a 1 MW solar facility.

Kleinfelder began working on this project in 2012, starting with planning, design, permitting, and then construction. Construction commenced in June 2016 with the award to Shimmick Construction Co. Inc. As the prime consultant, Kleinfelder provided engineering management, design, and construction support services. Agency coordination included State Water Resources Control Board Division of Drinking Water, Division of Safety of Dams, County of San Diego Office of Environmental Permits, San Diego Air Pollution Control District, and City of San Diego Development Services Department.

Multi-Disciplinary Design and Details

From 3D animation of the construction sequence, renderings for the community, and physical modeling of the 215 MGD pump station, the design included the community and major stakeholders throughout the project and into construction. Click here to learn more about the 3D visualization conducted in the planning stages of the project.

Structural and seismic design complied with the latest California Building Code (CBC) for reinforced concrete for the clearwells, which encompass over seven acres of the Miramar site. In addition, all new hydraulic structures needed to meet the California Department of Public Health requirements for disinfection.

Cross-Sharing Information for Innovative Solutions

Kleinfelder’s ability to cross-share team members and mobilize talent from across the U.S. enabled our experts to efficiently work together in delivering innovative solutions across the project’s multiple arenas – disinfection technologies, water quality permitting, environmental issues, hydraulics, and a 215 MGD lift station. For example, the team physically modeled the lift station per the Hydraulic Institute’s standards at Alden Labs facility in Redmond, WA. In support of the City of San Diego’s commitment to sustainability and green design, Kleinfelder worked to develop the 1 MW photovoltaic solar power generating system.

Results

The Miramar Clearwell Improvements project effectively enhanced the plant’s ability to respond to changing water quality conditions with full redundancy and reliability for its customers. It is the largest current Capital Improvement Project for the City of San Diego since June of 2016 and has kept the same construction staff of NV5, Shimmick Construction, the City of San Diego, and Kleinfelder and its subconsultants for the duration. This highly complex, 4.5-year construction project met all major milestones on schedule and completed the last stages of startup in January 2021 – all with zero unplanned outages of service to over 600,000 customers in northern San Diego.

Project Details

Location:
San Diego, California

Owner:
City of San Diego