In July of 2011, C. A. Murren & Sons was awarded a contract to build foundation components and the hot water intake structure for cooling towers three and four at Georgia Power Company’s Alvin W. Vogtle Electric Generating Plant in Waynesboro, Georgia.

The work consists of 140,000 cubic yards of excavation and backfill for the structures, slope protection, approximately 4,600 cubic yards of heavy reinforced concrete, and over 700 tons of reinforcing steel. One end of the structure will serve as the foundation for the Manitowoc Tower Crane that will construct the nearly 600-foot high Parabolic Cooling Tower. The other end of the structure will support the cooling tower while transferring the load to four 72-inch diameter caissons beneath the foundation and tunnel, all the while keeping the hot water tunnel free from the effects of the weight of the cooling tower.

Each cooling tower tunnel, will receive hot water from the plant via two 10-foot diameter pipes which will attach just outside the cooling tower footprint. Finally, the cast-in-place concrete structure will merge the two tunnels into one, with a dimension of 16-foot high and over 13-feet wide.

C. A. Murren will self-perform all work with the exception of the reinforcing steel. “The company’s broad expertise in excavation, heavy concrete, and crane services make this project a natural for C. A.. Murren, ” said, Dru Ellard, C. A. Murren Project Engineer.