Shoal Creek WWTP Drying Bed Covers

The City of Joplin’s wastewater facility needed solutions to keep the sludge beds dry and eliminate the expense of reprocessing or mechanically drying the sludge before transporting to fields. The wastewater facility sludge beds were uncovered and exposed to rainfall making the sludge excessively wet. Wet sludge causes inefficiencies within the plant by having to mechanically re-dry the sludge or retreat the saturated sludge through the plant. Because saturated sludge weighs more than dry sludge, transporting wet sludge material to fields for reuse as fertilizer increases trucking costs, requiring more trips per truck.

Allgeier Martin developed solutions for the Shoal Creek Treatment Facility by designing metal building structures to protect the sludge beds from rainfall. The structures were designed for construction without disturbing the surrounding sludge drying bed basin area. The design included two identical metal buildings 166.5’ long by 95’ wide. The foundations and wide stem walls contain the sludge. The City now can keep the sludge dry and stored until farmers are ready to fertilize their fields.