Laying Pipe
By K. Robert Wendel

The infrastructure project at Double Eagle Airport in Albuquerque includes miles of pipe, and it's no pipe dream for city officials.

When AUI Inc., an Albuquerque construction firm, completes a $9.3 million water and waste water system in September, the area is poised to become a center of aviation manufacturing. City officials hope the announcements of two aviation manufacturers' plans to locate in the area will spur associated businesses and industries.

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"We are looking toward the development of an aerospace technology park and other related industries," said Mike Medley, manager of the Double Eagle Airport. "Quite a few firms are committed to the park." The airpark is a small, municipal field on the far west side of Albuquerque.

Just one problem: There's no potable water. A nearby well exceeds arsenic standards, so all drinking water at the airport is bottled and trucked in. The area also lacks access to water treatment, and the airport now relies on a septic system.

That's where engineers Molzin Corbin and AUI Inc. come in. The two local firms are designing and installing 25 mi. of water and wastewater piping ranging from 8- in to 24- in. in diameter.

Getting through the area's tough volcanic rock wasn't easy. The site west of Albuquerque is near the Petroglyph National Park.

"There's a lot of tough digging," said AUI project manager Marshall Vickers. "There's a big vein of basalt the runs up through here. It's just solid rock."

Rock wasn't the only geotechnical issue confronting contractors. Formerly used by Kirtland Air Force Base pilots as a bombing range, the project site could have held some explosive surprises. Teams from the military's unexploded ordinance demolition units probed a 75-ft. swath 6- ft. deep on either side of the pipeline for any remaining ordinance.

"Sometimes the bombs didn't explode when they were dropped," said Gene Jaramillo, an engineer with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. "They found some unexploded ordinance and >> the remains of some old bombs, but we are still being careful."

A program called "Formerly Used Defense Sites," or F.U.D.S provided funding for the ordinance sweep. The Army Corps of Engineers is funding 75 percent of the construction cost, while the city kicks in the additional 25 percent.

The corps allowed the city to build the project to city specifications and utilize the city's procurement methods. Other entities involved include the National Park Service, Albuquerque's Aviation Department and Eclipse Aviation. End user Eclipse Aviation plans to build small executive jets using composite materials to create an affordable aircraft priced at about $1 million. Another user, ATG, which builds airplanes, is also planning to locate at the field.

"There were a lot of stakeholders on the project," said Pete Doles, a project manager in the Army Corps of Engineer's Albuquerque office. "There were a lot of opportunities to have problems, but they got resolved early with a lot of communication."

In addition to the 25- mi. of ductile pipe, crews are also constructing a 2.1- million- gallon steel water storage tank and a new pump station. The current pump station is being remodeled, and workers are installing fiber- optic cable.

At the new pump station at the lower end of the pipeline, plans call for two vertical turbine pumps. At the refurbished station, two split- case horizontal centrifugal pumps move water to the storage tank. From there, it is gravity fed into the airport.

The project will also provide other amenities for Duke City residents.

"This pipeline project has a recreational trail to make the area accessible to hikers, bikers and anyone else that wants to use it," said Mike Provine, an engineer with Molzin Corbin. "The trail also serves as a maintenance road, so it works out well."