NewsConnecting Bowling Green
W. Rogers Company completes WTP project, increases capacity by one-third
Bowling Green, KY | January 18, 2007
Bowling Green Municipal Utilities (BGMU) held a ribbon cutting ceremony today to celebrate the completion of its new raw water intake. Rising out of the Barren River at BGMU's water treatment plant located on Chestnut Street, the new intake has an increased capacity of 60 million gallons per day (MGD). General contracting firm, W. Rogers Company, headquartered in Lexington, Ky., constructed this project which will allow BGMU to provide water to residents of Bowling Green and Warren County for decades to come.
This particular public works project is unique in several ways. W. Rogers Company's contract for $3.2 million evolved following the July 2005 contract termination with the firm that built the adjacent treatment plant upgrade. Construction of the new intake was a critical element of that original contract. When problems developed relating to the construction in the Barren River, BGMU terminated that contract "for convenience". BGMU called in and later negotiated the completion of the work with W. Rogers Company. Sixteen months later, the massive concrete tower with the brick superstructure was complete and ready for use by BGMU.
Building such a structure that is anchored to the bottom of a fast-flowing river is anything but easy. Yet W. Rogers Company overcame two months of flooding, due in part to the aftermath of hurricane Katrina, and successfully completed the 100-foot-tall structure-with no injuries and within the planned timeframe.
The Bowling Green Chamber of Commerce sponsored the ribbon cutting and when the signal was given, 7-year-old Chanler Mann pushed the start button and the new electric pumps ramped up with a roar. Chanler, the daughter of Jody and Tedd Mann, has cystic fibrosis and was selected for the honor as a way for BGMU to salute the children of the community who will be served by this new facility for decades to come.