The project is being constructed as Design/Build/Operate/Finance (DBOF) and is privately owned by a partnership of Alinda Capital Investment Partners and PERC under Santa Paula Water LLC.The accident occurred over the area holding the Headworks/Dewatering room, but Nate Owen, PERC vice president of construction, said damage was minimal. “We’ve taken the incident very seriously and we’re very pleased with Layton’s response and their safety team,” which arrived Wednesday and was still on scene Thursday, “in the investigation of what happened. Thankfully, nobody was injured.” All safety precautions, he added, were followed.The city has been under the state gun to get a new facility up and running to replace the city’s almost 70-year-old system that ran afoul of the law with polluting discharges. As part of a settlement with the state the majority of more than $8 million in fines were waived to be used for a new facility, which must be completed in September 2010 and fully operational by December 2010.“Damage was very minimal and we don’t anticipate this will affect the schedule for completion at all,” Owen noted. “We have been progressing on schedule as planned.”
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This aerial photo shows the damage to one section of the roof structure at the new Santa Paula Water Recyling facility currently under construction. The section of the roof collapsed Wednesday morning as workers were placing the steel beams in place for the roof. Inspection of the facility indicates that apparently the crossbeams were not secured to the building thus causing the collapse. City officials, construction crews, and others were busy assessing the damage and trying to determine the next step. (Photo by Craig Mailloux) |
Roof truss collapse at city’s new water recycling plant being investigated
July 10, 2009
Santa Paula News
By Peggy Kelly
Santa Paula TimesAn accident described as leaving collapsed metal roof trusses ready to be removed “like pick-up sticks” occurred Wednesday morning at the city’s under construction water recycling facility. No one was hurt in the July 8 mishap that occurred at about 9 a.m.According to Santa Paula Chief Building Inspector Larry Beem, the accident occurred due to the “misplacement of one of the trusses... they disconnected the nine to move the one and the wind hit. It was like dominoes; they all just leaned over” and collapsed, some breaking while others just bent.The $58 million facility is under construction just south of the city’s old plant located on Corporation Road.Beem said the accident occurred because trusses were “inadequately secured... if they were relying on it all tied together it wouldn’t have gone down. Just like a deck of cards they would have been okay, but the wind pushed it and they all laid down in a pile.”Layton Construction of Arizona and Utah dispatched a safety officer and the portion of the work was shut down.Beem noted the accident will be subject to a report determining “what happened, what was wrong, how they’re going to address it, this is our fix, and don’t do it again.” He noted new trusses will have to be ordered, and “They’ll have to reach in there with a crane to pick the trusses up one at a time - like pickup sticks - and verify none of the equipment was damaged.”
