January 27, 2020
STAKKABOX ULTIMA CONNECT CHAMBER
THE CHALLENGE
The Water and Sewer Department in Arlington, Virginia had a specific problem area behind
a commercial plaza. The difficult location of a loading dock was causing trucks to damage the area’s 3-meter pits. Drivers had to make tight turns when coming and going, harming the curb where the meters were located and affecting the local commercial plaza and businesses.
Arlington identified an opportunity to combine the 3-meter pits into 1 larger enclosure as part of the solution to this problem. The enclosure would need to be housed completely in between the sidewalk and the curb, and it would need to have the ability to protect the meters. Choosing to partner with Oldcastle Infrastructure, the city was able to pilot the STAKKAbox Ultima Connect chamber system.
THE SOLUTION
A variety of features were noted by Arlington when choosing the STAKKAbox Ultima Connect chamber system. The high strength of the product was key considering the location of the installation. However, the most important factor was the ability to build around existing services without interruption. The modularity of the design gave them the opportunity to put in place a strong system capable
of withstanding truck loading, while having the ability to fit within the physical constraints given the job site. This system’s strength would have the ability keep the sidewalk, curb and road intact, and installation would cause little disruption to the surrounding businesses and residences. Because the system is comprised of sidewall and corner pieces that are easy to handle and easy to modify, it was a good fit for the construction site.
During the initial stages of the construction process, challenges began to arise. As excavation and the removal of the old system began, it was discovered that there were in fact, 5-meter services as opposed to 3 and a conduit that had some electrical service was also present. Additionally, a pad was originally poured for a foundation, but it was poured at a different height than was desired. The team was able to overcome these issues with some field modifications that could easily be made thanks to the flexibility of this system.
“The STAKKAbox chamber’s flexibility allowed us to fit a heavy truck rated chamber in a small footprint, install it with a small crew and no heavy equipment, and overcome challenges when unmarked existing infrastructure was discovered during excavation.”
Micah Denton
PE of Arlington County DES
BENEFITS
The overall installation took approximately 1.5 hours. Senior Product Manager, Ian Marten, and Regional Sales Manager, Rick Miller, performed the bulk of the installation with assistance from two Arlington employees. The easy-to-handle lightweight components made it possible to install the chamber with a minimal crew. No additional machinery was needed to lift the system into place. The project finished in June
of 2019.
The STAKKAbox Ultima Connect chamber system was the right choice for this project. The product’s flexibility in design allowed a solution to be developed that fit within the limitations of the jobsite, with the strength required to protect the water meters from future damage. Micah Denton, PE of Arlington County DES, said, “The flexibility of the STAKKAbox chamber is unmatched. With tens of thousands of water meters throughout a dense county, there are bound to be some unusual and challenging installations. The STAKKAbox chamber’s flexibility allowed us to fit a heavy truck rated chamber in a small footprint, install it with a small crew and no heavy equipment, and overcome challenges when unmarked existing infrastructure was discovered during excavation that would have delayed any conventional chamber installation. That flexibility adds a new tool to the toolbox that simply wasn’t available to us before.”
www.OldcastleInfrastructure.com