W.B. Hopke Wet Utilities Work at the South County Police Station & Animal Shelter in Lorton Nears Completion

In November 2015, funding was approved by the public for a new South County Police Station and Animal Shelter located at 8855 Lorton Road, Lorton, VA in Fairfax County. The two-year project began with a groundbreaking ceremony on May 22, 2021 with occupancy scheduled for Spring 2023.

Currently Franconia and Springfield District Police Stations service the central and southern areas of Fairfax County, so the new South County Police Station will allow the department to organize smaller patrol areas and decrease the response time on calls. A second Fairfax animal shelter will also cut down on transport time as the county’s only other animal shelter is located some distance away. The police station and animal shelter are welcome additions to a growing Fairfax County.

W.B. Hopke was awarded the $1.6 million dollar project by Forrester Construction which included storm drainage, sanitary sewer, water service, and a bio/dry swale installation. Hopke began work on April 2021 with a completion date schedule for Fall 2022. Currently the project is 90% complete.

Hopke Project Manager David Steger, who has been on the project from its beginning, recently provided updates and intel about the project’s progress. The project includes four main components, the most complex of which is a CMP Detention System with Jellyfish because of its scale and install location at the back of the site. The scope of work also includes a grease trap and sanitary jack & bore, a water line around the site and on Lorton Road, and several bioretention ponds and dry swales.

“The 66″ CMP Detention System with Jellyfish weighing in at 36,000 LBS, involved excavating the hole, placing in an impermeable liner, stone, and then the corrugated metal 66″ diameter pipes that tie together to make an area that accumulates stormwater and slowly releases it,” said David Steger. “The Jellyfish is a stormwater filter structure that is downstream of the detention system. Stormwater entering the Jellyfish goes through filters before being discharged into the nearby stream. We used a crane to install the Jellyfish because it is a large precast concrete structure. The storm detention piling was installed with our excavator.”

The scale of the 66″ stormwater detention facility was an important feature for the job to get it installed efficiently to maintain the schedule and free up valuable space at the site. The sanitary jack & bore was a bit tricky due to limited access. The far side of the bore was at the edge of another property, so coordinating the work with that of the other property took additional efforts by Hopke’s superintendent, Manuel Bonilla, and the superintendent at Forrester.

The grease trap was a precast structure that was installed near the building, similar to a sanitary manhole, with additional piping to segregate the grease from water that is allowed to leave the structure. The sanitary jack & bore was approximately 190 LF and involved boring a 24″ diameter steel casing underground and then installing sanitary pipe through the casing and connecting to existing infrastructure at the end.

A water line was also installed around the site and on Lorton Road. Approximately 1,400 LF of 8″ ductile iron water pipe, wrapped around the new building, providing domestic water and fire line water to the building and fire hydrants.

Finally, seven biorention ponds and dry swale areas were developed that included multiple layers of stone and sand, perforated underdrain pipe, and on top filter media soil.

The Hopke team has done a remarkable job on this project. On behalf of W.B. Hopke, we would like to thank David Steger project manager, superintendent Manuel Bonilla, Foremen (Jorge Villatoro, Marcelo Escobar, Mike Lipps, Rosy Lopez), and the Hopke crew which includes Jose Zelaya, Edgar Raymundo, Fidel Parada, Roberto Artiaga, Juan Paz, Luis Hernandez, Marcelo Duran, Vicente Nunez, Sebastian Sanchez, and Alberto Castillo.

We also want to thank our partners at the site including Forrester Construction, Family Excavating, Loudoun Tunneling, Fairfax Water Authority, Fairfax County Building Inspection, and the adjoining property developer for jack & bore access.

Contact W.B. Hopke about a career in utility installation and site work at 703-971-0404 or info@wbhopke.com.

References

Fairfax County, https://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/publicworks/capital-projects/south-county-police-station-and-animal-shelter, accessed October 17, 2022

FFX Now, https://www.ffxnow.com/2022/04/06/new-south-county-police-station-animal-shelter-on-track-for-spring-2023-completion/, accessed October 17, 2022

The Connection Newspapers, http://www.connectionnewspapers.com/news/2021/feb/15/new-police-station-and-animal-shelter-planned-lort/, accessed October 17, 2022