Rebuilding Highland Park: A Complex Wet-Weather Pump Station Rehabilitation in Chattanooga
Location: Chattanooga, Tennessee
Industry: Municipal Water & Wastewater
Service: Pump Station Rehabilitation, Mechanical/Electrical Modernization, and Controls Integration
The Situation
How do you rebuild a critical wastewater pump station when the system still has a job to do—and the station itself does not operate like a typical pump station? At Highland Park in Chattanooga, that was the challenge. Highland Park is a wet-weather pump station designed to help manage the City’s hydraulic profile during elevated-flow conditions. That makes it different from a conventional lift station: how and when the pumps start, stop, stage, and respond to changing levels affects not only the equipment at the site, but the performance of the larger collection system.
The facility could not simply be taken out of service while the work was completed. JBrennon first coordinated a temporary bypass capable of carrying the live wastewater flow, then sequenced demolition, wet-well access, cleaning and dewatering, pump and piping installation, electrical work, controls integration, startup, testing, and training around an active process. The rehabilitation reached nearly every discipline in the station, including submersible pumps, large-diameter process piping, valves and actuators, motor controls, VFDs, electrical distribution, PLC/RTU/SCADA controls, instrumentation, wet-well lining, structural access, lifting systems, HVAC, plumbing, concrete, and site restoration.
The Challenge
This was much more than replacing pumps, valves, and electrical equipment. Pump sequencing, level control, lead/lag operation, equipment-failure response, VFD commands, alarms, SCADA communication, and backup-power operating conditions all had to agree. A guided-wave radar instrument provided continuous level information while float switches supplied backup control points. The HMI, physical controls, PLC, RTU, motor-control center, and field devices had to show the same operating state and produce the correct response when levels changed or equipment became unavailable.
Field conditions and constructability constraints required repeated engineering and design refinements. The electrical room had to fit a dense PLC, VFD, and motor-control lineup while preserving clearances, ventilation, and maintenance access. Demolition exposed an opening beneath former equipment; the slide-gate chamber floor and concealed 24-inch pipe trough differed from the documented configuration; approved floor doors, guide rails, slab thickness, and access panels conflicted; and the 16-inch vent assembly required revised supports and bollard coordination. Long-lead valves, actuators, and lifting components also required resequencing. Temporary manual valves with matching lay lengths allowed related work to advance while permanent actuated valves were completed.
Temporary bypass pumping kept wastewater service operating during rehabilitation. Completed below-floor wet-well system with submersible pumps, vertical discharge piping, guide rails, lifting chains, and supports. VFD control cabinet showing the wiring, relays, communications hardware, and drive components behind the station’s control architecture.
How We Worked JBrennon organized the work around continuity of service. The temporary bypass was installed, pressure-tested, placed online, and monitored before the existing station systems were taken out of service. Wet-well work then proceeded through controlled access, ventilation, atmospheric monitoring, pressure washing, sludge removal, dewatering, coating, touch-up, and spark testing. New pumps were rigged through the operating-floor openings and lowered into the wet well, where guide rails, lifting chains, discharge piping, supports, level instruments, and access components had to fit within a tight vertical space.
Above the floor, large fabricated process piping, butterfly valves, actuators, flushing and rinse connections, pressure lines, and supports were installed in an order that preserved access for the remaining trades. When field conditions differed from the documents, the team measured the condition, documented the conflict, developed a constructible path, and coordinated the final detail with the City, engineer, program manager, trade partners, and manufacturers. The same systems approach carried through electrical and controls integration, startup, alarm and communication checks, pump-speed adjustments, wet-weather observation, and owner training.
Installed slide-gate operator with custom diamond-plate safety grating and coordinated access panels. Completed process-piping manifold with actuated valves inside Highland Park Pump Station. City and project participants during owner training inside the completed station.
The Outcome
On October 23, 2025, Highland Park came off temporary bypass and returned to full wastewater operation. Commissioning continued through operational observation, debugging, permanent valve installation, display corrections, backup-power testing coordination, and completion of the crane and hoist systems. Wet-weather data informed measured refinements to float behavior and diverter-gate timing so the completed logic matched the station’s operating role without unnecessary cycling.
The result was not simply a collection of newly installed components. It was an integrated wet-weather pump station that had to operate the way the City’s wastewater system needed it to operate. The finished facility combines new pumping and process systems with modern motor controls, VFDs, level instrumentation, PLC/RTU/SCADA functions, wet-well protection, ventilation, heating, lifting systems, and safer maintenance access.
That is where a contractor adds value on complex infrastructure work: helping turn design intent, real-world field conditions, and operating requirements into a functioning facility. For critical facilities that cannot afford disruption, successful work requires understanding the process, planning the sequence, adapting quickly, and keeping operations at the center of every decision. Have a facility challenge that cannot afford disruption? Call JBrennon at 706.914.8477 or visit our contact page.
Project Deliverables
Temporary wastewater bypass pumping, temporary power, monitoring, and operational continuity
Wet-well cleaning, sludge removal, dewatering, lining, coating, new submersible pumps, guide rails, lifting chains, and below-floor discharge piping
Large-diameter process piping, valves, actuators, flushing connections, slide gate, custom safety grating, and access systems
Motor-control center, VFDs, electrical distribution, PLC/RTU/SCADA, HMI, radar level, backup floats, alarms, startup, and commissioning
Bridge crane, davit and hoist systems; HVAC, gas detection, plumbing, concrete, site restoration, backup-power testing coordination, and owner training