Innovative Design of Large Diameter Fittings for the Lake Fork Interconnect Vault

Abstract

The Dallas Water Utilities has completed all five phases of their Lake Fork Pipeline. Included in Phase Five was a interconnect structure that would allow for connections for future pipelines from the Iron Bridge Pump Station to the Tawakoni Balancing Reservoir. Inside this vault structure was a 168 diameter steel header, 168 and 144 diameter butterfly valves and many other large diameter fittings. As typical AWWA design standards only incorporate pipe sizes up to 144, innovative design processes were developed. This paper will investigate the design procedure that was ultimately followed and address differences between this new innovative procedure and classic AWWA design methods.