Blakely Mountain drilling machine arrives today
The city will get its first in-person glimpse today of the machine that will allow it to gravity feed Lake Ouachita water to a treatment plant 17 miles to the south.
The German-manufactured micro tunnel boring machine will make its local debut this afternoon, arriving at City Hall prior to the start of the Hot Springs Board of Directors agenda meeting.
Michels Corp. will use the MTBM to drill a 60-inch diameter, half-milelong tunnel through Blakely Mountain, connecting the intake it’s building east of the main channel to a raw waterline that will cross Glazypeau and Clear creeks, upper Lake Hamilton, Highway 270 west, Mazarn Creek, Highway 70 west and Little Mazarn Creek en route to the new plant off of Amity Road.
City Utilities Director Monty Ledbetter said the 60-foot long MTBM was custom built to bore through Blakely Mountain rock. It was sent to Canada for further customization after arriving at Michels’ Wisconsin headquarters last year. The board awarded Michels a $19.27 million contract last year to design and build the intake and tunnel.
“There’s not another tunnel project like this,” Ledbetter said Monday. “It’s the longest one in North America done with this kind of technology. It’s definitely one of a kind.”
The MTBM will clear a path for the 60-inch diameter steel pipe that will carry water through the mountain, allowing the city to forgo the recurring cost of pumping water over the mountain. Ledbetter said the 72-inch diameter encasement Michels bored 42 feet into the south side of the mountain last week will protect that end of the pipe.
The more than $100 million water supply project the city undertook in 2018 has progressed from middle to
out. More than $30 million in contracts have been awarded for the 17-mile long, 42-to-48 inch diameter raw waterline connecting the intake to the new plant.
Michels is scheduled to begin drilling the micro tunnel on the north end of the project next week, and the city will open bids for the 15 million-gallon a day treatment plant on the south end later this month. A pre-bid meeting was held Monday.
“We’re anxiously awaiting that opening to see what those prices come in at,” City Manager Bill Burrough told the board last week. “We know we’re having some supply issues in other areas of the project. The plant opening is a key indicator of what’s to come. Hopefully, more than one bid comes in for that project.”
CDI Contractors of Little Rock won the $2 million contract to clear and prepare the 33-acre site on Little Mazarn Road. Natgun Corp. of Texas received the $4.19 million contract for the plant’s 3 million-gallon clear well.
The 160-foot diameter concrete well will hold treated water that high service pumps will push through the 13-mile finished waterline that will connect to the large diameter main that runs along the King Expressway. The main connects to the 3 million-gallon elevated tank behind Cornerstone Market Place.
The city plans to have Lake Ouachita water running through the more than 35,000 meters in its service area by fall 2023.