August 6, 2020
The Kearns Improvement District (KID) completed a new 2-million-gallon (2 MG) drinking water tank designed by Hansen, Allen & Luce (HAL) and held the final walk-through in June 2020.
Completing the project was “a part of the commitment that KID has to its customers to provide clean, safe, and reliable water,” the District said in a prepared statement.
In a planning study previously prepared by HAL, engineers identified the need for additional drinking water storage and fire protection in a part of the District’s service area known as Zone A. The site of an existing 1 MG circular tank near 5400 South and 5600 West was expanded and HAL designed a 2 MG rectangular tank to be constructed immediately next to it (image, foreground).
Both tanks sit in a major utility corridor, between high-voltage overhead power lines (image, right) and a 36-inch-diameter buried natural gas pipeline (image, left). The setting required special coordination with the utility companies to work around the power tower and to construct a temporary retaining wall to protect the pressurized gas pipeline.
In a previous project, HAL redesigned the outlet works for the existing tank with the foresight to accommodate a future tank on the same site, so connecting the tank’s 20-inch-diameter pipeline to the system did not require any offsite improvements. HAL also designed the access road, turnaround area, and tank hatches to facilitate maintenance. The rock landscape with the District’s water drop logo on top of each buried tank makes for a decorative finished surface.
“KID would like to extend our thanks and recognition to Hansen, Allen & Luce, Inc., who was the consulting engineer for the project, and to FX Construction, Inc., the general contractor,” a District statement said. “Both firms provided excellent service and craftsmanship in designing and completing the project.”
HAL and KID have worked together for many years. In 2015, HAL designed the 5 MG tank next to the District’s headquarters.