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| White Rock Lake Dredging |
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White Rock Lake was constructed in 1911 to supply water to the City of Dallas, Texas. Like most large, raw-water reservoirs, White Rock Lake forms the heart of a recreational park. Unfortunately, before the completion of this project, the lake had experienced bottom degradation due to excessive vegetation growth, trash, and silt.
To restore White Rock Lake, OSCAR RENDA CONTRACTING worked 18 months, seven days a week, and 24 hours per day to dredge the bottom of the lake to a minimum depth of 8 feet. The dredging operation involved two major phases: designing and building the transportation system and the dredging operation itself. Most notably, the dredge transportation system required the construction of a 104,000-foot steel pipeline located above ground that weaved its way through downtown Dallas where it ultimately ended at a former gravel pit for disposal. The temporary pipeline alignment crossed a creek bed, several golf courses, and required bores under two interstate highways and the Trinity River. The 104,000-foot steel dredge pipeline was, at the time, the largest steel pipeline ever constructed for an inland dredging project.
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The transportation system also included 3 pump stations. The primary pump station consisted of a 2,000-horsepower (hp) pump. Along the dredge pipe alignment, two booster pump stations - consisting of 1,500 hp pumps - were installed. The control centers for the booster pump stations were enclosed with bullet-proof sheds and were secured with chain-link fences topped with barbed and razor wire. Slurry was pumped through the 104,000-foot dredge pipeline at a rate of 10,500 gallons-per-minute (gpm). The dredge was equipped with a Global Positioning System (GPS), which included an integrated gyro-compass that served to assure an accurate and continuous course and a degassing system to remove air bubbles to help prevent pump cavitation.
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To ensure proper synchronization between the dredge and the pipeline operation, OSCAR RENDA Construction constructed a two-way radio/telemetry system that relayed information to and from the dredge. Information such as flow-rate readings from magnetic flow meters located at the beginning and end of the dredging pipeline were communicated via telephone lines to the telemetry system.
Many in the dredging industry at the time thought that a project of this magnitude could not be completed. Through dedicated OSCAR RENDA Construction staff the project was completed on time and within budget. For more information about OSCAR RENDA CONTRACTING or this project, feel free to contact us.
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