Sea Girt Pump Station Considered Nation's First 'Hurricane Proof' Design

Officials are calling a new pump station built in Sea Girt, and two more following in Spring Lake and Belmar, displaying the future of pumping stations for the nation in flood-prone areas at risk from storms like Hurricanes Katrina and Irene, and Superstorm Sandy.

The mobile enclosure pumping stations are designed to have the main electrical components of the pump station enclosed in a movable structure, such as a trailer, which is then able to be moved in the event of forecasted floods and storms, as opposed to a fixed-concrete structure.

The mobile enclosure can be disconnected from the pump station and be relocated to higher ground, with a temporary emergency generator power setup left in its place until the storm is over, according to details released in the Asbury Park Press.

For this reason, the Southern Monmouth Regional Sewerage Authority, or SMRSA, describes the pump stations as virtually “hurricane proof” on their website. The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection and the Federal Emergency Management Agency have also both suported the design as the best management process for resiliency in the face of flood and storm-prone coastal towns.

SMRSA, handles waste water management for Belmar, Sea Girt, Spring Lake, Spring Lake Heights, Manasquan, Brielle, Lake Como, and Wall. The authority installed the very first mobile enclosure in the country in Sea Girt.

According to the Asbury Park Press, the unit was moved twice- first during Hurricane Irene, and then again for Superstorm Sandy. The station was then reinstalled within 24 hours each time.

The New Jersey Environmental Infrastructure Trust, an independent state agency that provides financing for water infrastructure projects, has given SMRSA loans through the Christie Adminstration-created Statewide Assistance Infrastructure Loan, or SAILS, which was developed to provide water treatment and waste-water infrastructure operators with low-interest, short term loans in anticipation of federal disaster aid. The loan totals $7 million, which includes $1.4 million pump for a Spring Lake station and $2.2 million for a Belmar station, which are expected to be completed in 2015. The loan also includes $2.95 million for a Lake Como structure that will not be of a mobile design. All three projects are approved for 90 percent reimbursement from FEMA, which SMRSA will then use to pay off the SAIL loan, according to the Asbury Park Press.

To read more, go to: http://www.app.com/story/news/local/neptune-wall/spring-lake/2014/10/13/future-pump-stations/17179063/

http://www.smrsa.org/whats-new/innovative-designs